CVE-2022-31121 – CVE-2022-31121 is a denial-of-service vulnerabi... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2022-31121?

CVE-2022-31121 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). CVE-2022-31121 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Hyperledger Fabric where a malicious consensus client can crash an orderer node by sending malformed consensus requests. This affects all Hyperledger Fabric deployments using vulnerable versions, potentially disrupting blockchain network operations.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2022-31121 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Hyperledger Fabric where a malicious consensus client can crash an orderer node by sending malformed consensus requests. This affects all Hyperledger Fabric deployments using vulnerable versions, potentially disrupting blockchain network operations.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Hyperledger Fabric

Versions: All versions before 2.2.7 and 2.4.5

Operating Systems: All supported platforms

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All Hyperledger Fabric deployments using orderer nodes with vulnerable versions are affected regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

Fabric by Hyperledger

View all CVEs affecting Fabric →

Fabric by Hyperledger

View all CVEs affecting Fabric →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete disruption of blockchain network operations through cascading orderer node crashes, leading to transaction processing halt and network unavailability.

🟠

Likely Case

Targeted orderer node crashes causing temporary transaction processing delays and requiring manual node restarts.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact with proper network segmentation and monitoring, allowing quick detection and isolation of malicious clients.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Orderer nodes typically shouldn't be internet-facing, but if exposed, they become vulnerable to DoS attacks.

🏢 Internal Only: HIGH - Malicious or compromised internal consensus clients can exploit this vulnerability to disrupt network operations.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires access to send consensus requests to orderer nodes, typically requiring client credentials or network access.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 2.2.7 or 2.4.5

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/security/advisories/GHSA-72x4-cq6r-jp4p

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Backup all configuration and data. 2. Stop all Fabric components. 3. Upgrade to Fabric v2.2.7 or v2.4.5. 4. Restart all components. 5. Verify network functionality.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

No workarounds available

all

The vendor advisory states there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network segmentation to limit which clients can communicate with orderer nodes
Enhance monitoring for abnormal consensus request patterns and orderer node crashes

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Fabric version: fabric-ca-client version | grep Version

Check Version:

fabric-ca-client version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify version is 2.2.7 or higher for 2.2.x branch, or 2.4.5 or higher for 2.4.x branch

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Orderer node crash logs
Panic stack traces in orderer logs
Consensus request validation errors

Network Indicators:

Abnormal consensus request patterns
Sudden orderer node unavailability

SIEM Query:

source="fabric-orderer.log" AND ("panic" OR "crash" OR "malformed consensus")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2022-31121

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE: CWE-20

Published: July 7, 2022

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/commit/0f18359493bcbd5f9f9d1a9b05adabfe5da23b06 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/releases/tag/v2.2.7 Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/releases/tag/v2.4.5 Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/security/advisories/GHSA-72x4-cq6r-jp4p Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/commit/0f18359493bcbd5f9f9d1a9b05adabfe5da23b06 Patch,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/releases/tag/v2.2.7 Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/releases/tag/v2.4.5 Release Notes,Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/security/advisories/GHSA-72x4-cq6r-jp4p Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory

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