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Resource Allocation Without LimitsWeakness · CWE-770

CVE-2024-52918

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Bitcoin-Qt in Bitcoin Core before 0.20.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and application crash) via a BIP21 r parameter for a URL that has a large file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Bitcoin-Qt (the Bitcoin Core GUI) before version 0.20.0 does not limit memory allocation when processing BIP21 payment request URIs. When a BIP21 URI containing an 'r' parameter (payment request URL) is opened, the application attempts to load the entire remote file into memory without size restrictions, allowing attackers to trigger memory exhaustion and crash the application.

MitigationUpgrade to Bitcoin Core 0.20.0 or later, which implements proper memory limits or streaming for BIP21 r parameter handling. As a temporary mitigation, avoid opening untrusted BIP21 URIs from unknown sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Bitcoin Core version
    Run 'bitcoin-cli getinfo' or 'bitcoin-cli getnetworkinfo' and look for the 'version' field. On Windows, check Properties of bitcoin-qt.exe. On Linux, run 'bitcoind --version'.
    Affected if Version is below 0.20.0 (for example, 0.19.x, 0.18.x, or earlier)
  2. Confirm Bitcoin-Qt GUI is in use
    Verify that the bitcoin-qt executable (the GUI wrapper) is installed, not just the headless bitcoind daemon. Look for bitcoin-qt in your installed programs or running processes.
    Affected if Bitcoin-Qt GUI is installed and used, as the vulnerability is in the GUI's URI handling (bitcoind alone may not process BIP21 URIs)
  3. Identify BIP21 URI usage patterns
    Review logs or audit any systems where users can click or open bitcoin: URIs with an 'r' parameter (for example, bitcoin:1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa?r=https://malicious.site/payment.request)
    Affected if Users open BIP21 URIs containing an 'r' parameter pointing to remote payment request URLs

You are affected if Bitcoin-Qt version is below 0.20.0 and the GUI is used to open BIP21 URIs with an 'r' parameter, as the application will attempt to load the entire remote file into memory without size limits.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Bitcoin Core 0.20.0 or later, which implements proper memory limits or streaming for BIP21 r parameter handling. As a temporary mitigation, avoid opening untrusted BIP21 URIs from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Bitcoin Core 0.20.0 or later

  1. 1. Backup your Bitcoin Core data directory and wallet files before proceeding
  2. 2. Download Bitcoin Core version 0.20.0 or later from the official source at bitcoincore.org
  3. 3. Verify the GPG signature of the downloaded binary using the release signing keys
  4. 4. Close Bitcoin-Qt if it is currently running
  5. 5. Install or replace the Bitcoin Core installation with the new version
  6. 6. Start Bitcoin-Qt and verify the application runs without memory issues

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-52918 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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