CVE-2023-38701

CRITICALNVD 9.19.1—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.1 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.9%, top 44% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
Elevated
9.1EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1%CVSS: 9.1Exploit: Elevated riskExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Users of the Hydra head protocol send the UTxOs they wish to commit into the Hydra head first to the commit validator, where they remain until they are either collected into the head validator or the protocol initialisation is aborted and the value in the committed UTxOs is returned to the users who committed them. Prior to version 0.12.0, the commit validator contains a flawed check when the ViaAbort redeemer is used, which allows any user to spend any UTxO which is at the validator arbitrarily, meaning an attacker can steal the funds that users are trying to commit into the head validator. The intended behavior is that the funds must be returned to the user which committed the funds and can only be performed by a participant of the head. The initial validator also is similarly affected as the same flawed check is performed for the ViaAbort redeemer. Due to this issue, an attacker can steal any funds that user's try to commit into a Hydra head. Also, an attacker can prevent any Hydra head from being successfully opened. It does not allow an attacker to take funds which have been successfully collected into and currently reside in the head validator. Version 0.12.0 contains a fix for this issue.

CVSS v3
9.1
EG Score
9.1(medium)
EG Risk
72(Attend)
EG Risk 72/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity91% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS PROB
1%
EPSS %ILE
57%
KEV
Not listed

Published

October 4, 2023

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Jul 22, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github.
github Patch Available🟡 PoC Available

Committed UTxOs at Commit validator and UTxOs at Initial validator can be spent arbitrarily by anyone · Advisory · cardano-scaling/hydra · GitHub

https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/security/advisories/GHSA-6x9v-7x5r-w8w6
generic

hydra/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Util.hs at master · cardano-scaling/hydra · GitHub

https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Util.hs#L32-L42
generic

hydra/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Commit.hs at master · cardano-scaling/hydra · GitHub

https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Commit.hs#L94-L97
generic🟡 PoC Available

hydra/CHANGELOG.md at master · cardano-scaling/hydra · GitHub

https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#0120---2023-08-18

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 8× in last 7d / 44× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 131 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-08-09 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
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  73. 2026-06-10 22:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-10 13:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-09 19:17 UTCOSV refresh

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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-38701?
CVE-2023-38701 is a critical vulnerability published on October 4, 2023. Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Users of the Hydra head protocol send the UTxOs they wish to commit into the Hydra head first to the commit validator, where they remain until they are either collected into the head validator or the protocol initialisation is aborted and the…
When was CVE-2023-38701 disclosed?
CVE-2023-38701 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on October 4, 2023, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2023-38701 actively exploited?
CVE-2023-38701 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 43.2% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38701?
CVE-2023-38701 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.1 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2023-38701?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2023-38701, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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