DoS disclosure: Channel open race in CLN

CLN versions between 23.02 and 23.05.2 are susceptible to a DoS attack involving the exploitation of a race condition during channel opens. If you are running any version in this range, your funds may be at risk! Update to at least CLN 23.08 to help protect your node.

The Vulnerability

The vulnerability arises from a race condition between two different flows in CLN: the channel open flow and the peer connection flow. When the race occurs, CLN attempts to launch a channeld daemon twice, triggering an assertion failure and a crash.

The crash can be reliably triggered in 30 seconds using a fake channel DoS attack.

Protecting Your Node

Update your node to at least v23.08 to prevent it from crashing due to the race.

More Details

For a full discussion about the vulnerability, its root causes, and how it could have been prevented, see my blog post about it.

4 Likes