RUSTSEC-2026-0228
NIP-04 parsing amplifies malformed ciphertext memory use
- Severity
- 4.3 / 10
- Medium · CVSS 3.1
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- —
- No score published
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- —
- Not classified
- Fix
0.44.7- Upgrade nostr to this version or later
Description
The NIP-04 decryption parser split attacker-controlled content on every ?iv=
separator and collected all resulting segments before checking that the message had
the expected two parts. It also Base64-decoded the complete IV text before checking
that it represented the required 16-byte AES-CBC IV.
A malicious sender could include a large number of separators or an oversized IV in an encrypted direct message. Applications that attempted to decrypt the message performed avoidable allocations proportional to the malformed input, with additional allocation amplification from the segment vector and Base64 output. This can consume memory and CPU in clients processing messages received through a relay. It does not weaken NIP-04 encryption or reveal plaintext or key material.
The parser now uses a single bounded split, rejects additional separators, and validates the 24-byte encoded IV length before Base64 decoding. Malformed inputs are returned as errors without allocating for every separator or decoding an arbitrarily large IV.
Affected versions
crates.io
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| nostr | >= 0.0.0-0, < 0.44.7 |
0.44.7 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
nostr crates.io → 0.44.7
- cargo
cargo update -p nostr --precise 0.44.7
Severity breakdown
CVSS 3.1 4.3
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| RUSTSEC-2026-0230 Empty NIP-50 search filters can panic | High | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0229 NIP-98 authorization parsing permits resource exhaustion | High | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0226 Wallet event parsers accept unauthenticated events | High | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0227 NIP-44 v2 decryption permits resource exhaustion | High | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0225 Debug output exposes NIP-46 and NIP-60 credentials | Medium | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0219 Remote Denial of Service via malformed NIP-04 IV | High | Also affects nostr |
| RUSTSEC-2026-0216 Remote Denial of Service via malformed NIP‑44 v2 payload | High | Also affects nostr |
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