Tendermint light client verification not taking into account chain ID

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

5.4 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2022-23507: 0.32% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 24.60 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact Anyone using the tendermint-light-client and related packages to perform light client verification (e.g. IBC-rs, Hermes). At present, the light client does not check that the chain IDs of the trusted and untrusted headers match, resulting in a possible attack vector where someone who finds a header from an untrusted chain that satisfies all other verification conditions (e.g. enough overlapping validator signatures) could fool a light client. The attack vector is currently theoretical, and no proof-of-concept exists yet to exploit it on live networks. Patches Users of the light client-related crates can currently upgrade to v0.28.0. Workarounds None References - Light Client specification

Published by the source

14 Dec 2022, 21:35 UTC

Last modified by the source

31 Jan 2023, 05:06 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:33 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-xqqc-c5gw-c5r5

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-23507

Advisory: Tendermint light client verification not taking into account chain ID
IDs: CVE-2022-23507, GHSA-xqqc-c5gw-c5r5
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-23507 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:33 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: tendermint-light-client-js 0.28.0; tendermint-light-client-verifier 0.28.0; tendermint-light-client 0.28.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io tendermint-light-client-js: affected <= 0.27.0; fixed in 0.28.0
- crates.io tendermint-light-client-verifier: affected <= 0.27.0; fixed in 0.28.0
- crates.io tendermint-light-client: affected <= 0.27.0; fixed in 0.28.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io tendermint-light-client-js: check the installed version with your package manager.
- crates.io tendermint-light-client-verifier: check the installed version with your package manager.
- crates.io tendermint-light-client: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on tendermint-light-client-js, tendermint-light-client-verifier, tendermint-light-client.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xqqc-c5gw-c5r5 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-xqqc-c5gw-c5r5 lists affected ranges: crates.io tendermint-light-client-verifier >=0 =0 =0 <=0.27.0)

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