CVE-2023-45130

Frontier opcode SUICIDE touches too many storage values on large contracts

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.

Category

7.5
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
EPSS 0.25%
Vendor Advisory github.com Vendor Advisory github.com
Affected: paritytech frontier
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2023-45130?
CVE-2023-45130 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2023-45130?
To fix CVE-2023-45130, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2023-45130 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2023-45130 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~0% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2023-45130?
CVE-2023-45130 affects paritytech frontier.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.