CometBFT may duplicate transactions in the mempool's data structures

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-34451: 0.90% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 59.73 (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 The mempool maintains two data structures to keep track of outstanding transactions: a list and a map. These two data structures are supposed to be in sync all the time in the sense that the map tracks the index (if any) of the transaction in the list. Unfortunately, it is possible to have them out of sync. When this happens, the list may contain several copies of the same transaction. Because the map tracks a single index, it is then no longer possible to remove all the copies of the transaction from the list. This happens even if the duplicated transaction is later committed in a block. The only way to remove the transaction is by restarting the node. These are the steps to cause the above duplication problem. Everything should happen within one height, that is no FinalizeBlock or BeginBlock ABCI calls should happen while these steps are reproduced: 1. send transaction tx1 to the target full node via RPC 2. send N more different transactions to the target full node, where N…

Published by the source

5 Jul 2023, 21:34 UTC

Last modified by the source

10 Nov 2023, 05:00 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:00 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-w24w-wp77-qffm

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-34451

Advisory: CometBFT may duplicate transactions in the mempool's data structures
IDs: CVE-2023-34451, GHSA-w24w-wp77-qffm
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-34451 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:00 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.2)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/cometbft/cometbft 0.37.2, 0.34.29. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/cometbft/cometbft: affected < 0.34.29; >= 0.37.0, < 0.37.2; fixed in 0.34.29, 0.37.2

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/cometbft/cometbft: 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 github.com/cometbft/cometbft.
- 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-w24w-wp77-qffm (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-w24w-wp77-qffm lists affected ranges: Go github.com/cometbft/cometbft >=0 =0.37.0 <0.37.2)

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