CVE-2024-23688
Consensys Discovery Nonce Reuse
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.3
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
CVE-2024-23688- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List
5.3
Consensys Discovery Nonce Reuse
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
CVE-2024-23688- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-21150
5.3
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
EUVD-2024-21150- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-wp4m-7hpj-8qp8
5.3
Duplicate Advisory: Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session
Duplicate Advisory
This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g. This link is maintained to preserve external references.
Original Description
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
GHSA-wp4m-7hpj-8qp8- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g No score
Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session
Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session though it should be generated on per message basis which can lead to the leaking of the session key. As the actual ENR record is signed with a different key it is not possible for an attacker to alter the ENR record. Note that the node private key is not compromised, only the session key generated to communicate with an individual peer.
From discovery spec:
The number of messages which can be encrypted with a certain session key is limited because encryption of each message requires a unique nonce for AES-GCM. In addition to the keys, the session cache must also keep track of the count of outgoing messages to ensure the uniqueness of nonce values. Since the wire protocol uses 96 bit AES-GCM nonces, it is strongly recommended to generate them by encoding the current outgoing message count into the first 32 bits of the nonce and filling the remaining 64 bits with random data generated by a cryptographically secure random number generator.
- Record
GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g- Weakness
- CWE-323, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.3
Consensys Discovery Nonce Reuse
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
CVE-2024-23688- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-wp4m-7hpj-8qp8
5.3
Duplicate Advisory: Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session
Duplicate Advisory
This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g. This link is maintained to preserve external references.
Original Description
Consensys Discovery versions less than 0.4.5 uses the same AES/GCM nonce for the entire session. which should ideally be unique for every message. The node's private key isn't compromised, only the session key generated for specific peer communication is exposed.
- Record
GHSA-wp4m-7hpj-8qp8- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g No score
Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session
Discovery uses the same AES/GCM Nonce throughout the session though it should be generated on per message basis which can lead to the leaking of the session key. As the actual ENR record is signed with a different key it is not possible for an attacker to alter the ENR record. Note that the node private key is not compromised, only the session key generated to communicate with an individual peer.
From discovery spec:
The number of messages which can be encrypted with a certain session key is limited because encryption of each message requires a unique nonce for AES-GCM. In addition to the keys, the session cache must also keep track of the count of outgoing messages to ensure the uniqueness of nonce values. Since the wire protocol uses 96 bit AES-GCM nonces, it is strongly recommended to generate them by encoding the current outgoing message count into the first 32 bits of the nonce and filling the remaining 64 bits with random data generated by a cryptographically secure random number generator.
- Record
GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g- Weakness
- CWE-323, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
tech.pegasys.discovery:discoveryMaven |
before 0.4.5 | 0.4.5 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2024-23688 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Consensys Discovery, published April 6, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.49%, the 42nd percentile. Fixed in tech.pegasys.discovery:discovery 0.4.5.
References
github.com/ConsenSys/discovery/security/advisories/GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g
github.com/advisories/GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g
vulncheck.com/advisories/vc-advisory-GHSA-w3hj-wr2q-x83g
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-23688
github.com/advisories/GHSA-wp4m-7hpj-8qp8
repo.maven.apache.org/maven2
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/23xxx/CVE-2024-23688.json
github.com/ConsenSys/discovery