CVE-2026-62162
Hydra: Deposit Claim omits Head state-token spending requirement
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the Claim branch in hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak checks only that datum.head_id matches the attacker-controlled redeemer.currencySymbol and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through POST /commit is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.2
Hydra: Deposit Claim omits Head state-token spending requirement
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the Claim branch in hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak checks only that datum.head_id matches the attacker-controlled redeemer.currencySymbol and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through POST /commit is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
- Record
CVE-2026-62162- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-862
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-114282
8.2
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the Claim branch in hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak checks only that datum.head_id matches the attacker-controlled redeemer.currencySymbol and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through POST /commit is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
- Record
EUVD-2026-114282- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
8.2
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the Claim branch in hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak checks only that datum.head_id matches the attacker-controlled redeemer.currencySymbol and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through POST /commit is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
- Record
CVE-2026-62162- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Weakness
- CWE-862
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.2
Hydra: Deposit Claim omits Head state-token spending requirement
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the Claim branch in hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak checks only that datum.head_id matches the attacker-controlled redeemer.currencySymbol and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through POST /commit is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
- Record
CVE-2026-62162- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-862
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-62162 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.2) in Cardano-scaling Hydra, published October 30, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.37%, the 30th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/cardano-scaling/hydra/security/advisories/GHSA-gfpc-m687-p7h5
github.com/cardano-scaling/hydra/commit/ff60e4af4ecf05545a696a6d9bf1afeffe991de0
github.com/cardano-scaling/hydra/releases/tag/2.1.0
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/62xxx/CVE-2026-62162.json
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-62162