CVE-2023-45130

CVE-2023-45130 is a high-severity vulnerability in Parity Frontier with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-770.

Key facts

Description

Frontier is Substrate's Ethereum compatibility layer. Prior to commit aea528198b3b226e0d20cce878551fd4c0e3d5d0, at the end of a contract execution, when opcode SUICIDE marks a contract to be deleted, the software uses `storage::remove_prefix` (now renamed to `storage::clear_prefix`) to remove all storages associated with it. This is a single IO primitive call passing the WebAssembly boundary. For large contracts, the call (without providing a `limit` parameter) can be slow. In addition, for parachains, all storages to be deleted will be part of the PoV, which easily exceed relay chain PoV size limit. On the other hand, Frontier's maintainers only charge a fixed cost for opcode SUICIDE. The maintainers consider the severity of this issue high, because an attacker can craft a contract with a lot of storage values on a parachain, and then call opcode SUICIDE on the contract. If the transaction makes into a parachain block, the parachain will then stall because the PoV size will exceed relay chain's limit. This is especially an issue for XCM transactions, because they can't be skipped. Commit aea528198b3b226e0d20cce878551fd4c0e3d5d0 contains a patch for this issue. For parachains, it's recommended to issue an emergency runtime upgrade as soon as possible. For standalone chains, the impact is less severe because the issue mainly affects PoV sizes. It's recommended to issue a normal runtime upgrade as soon as possible. There are no known workarounds.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-45130?
Frontier is Substrate's Ethereum compatibility layer. Prior to commit aea528198b3b226e0d20cce878551fd4c0e3d5d0, at the end of a contract execution, when opcode SUICIDE marks a contract to be deleted, the software uses `storage::remove_prefix` (now renamed to `storage::clear_prefix`) to remove all storages associated with it. This is a single IO primitive call passing the WebAssembly boundary. For large contracts, the call (without providing a `limit` parameter) can be slow. In addition, for parachains, all storages to be deleted will be part of the PoV, which easily exceed relay chain PoV size limit. On the other hand, Frontier's maintainers only charge a fixed cost for opcode SUICIDE. The maintainers consider the severity of this issue high, because an attacker can craft a contract with a lot of storage values on a parachain, and then call opcode SUICIDE on the contract. If the transaction makes into a parachain block, the parachain will then stall because the PoV size will exceed relay chain's limit. This is especially an issue for XCM transactions, because they can't be skipped. Commit aea528198b3b226e0d20cce878551fd4c0e3d5d0 contains a patch for this issue. For parachains, it's recommended to issue an emergency runtime upgrade as soon as possible. For standalone chains, the impact is less severe because the issue mainly affects PoV sizes. It's recommended to issue a normal runtime upgrade as soon as possible. There are no known workarounds.
How severe is CVE-2023-45130?
CVE-2023-45130 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2023-45130 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (55th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-45130?
CVE-2023-45130 affects Parity Frontier. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2023-45130?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2023-45130 published?
CVE-2023-45130 was published on 2023-10-13 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

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