CVE-2024-52914Network attack vector

Node stall via quadratic orphan processing

Published Nov 18, 2024 · Updated Nov 18, 2024

Denial of service in Bitcoin Core before 0.18.0 allows remote attackers to stall a node for hours via crafted unconfirmed transactions. After accepting a parent transaction into the mempool, orphan resolution scans up to 100 cached orphans for each new output and repeatedly validates deliberately invalid, expensive orphans. No authentication or user interaction is required; the affected node remains running but cannot process new network messages during the stall.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.53%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Bitcoin Core before 0.18.0 allows remote attackers to stall a node for hours via crafted unconfirmed transactions. After accepting a parent transaction into the mempool, orphan resolution scans up to 100 cached orphans for each new output and repeatedly validates deliberately invalid, expensive orphans. No authentication or user interaction is required; the affected node remains running but cannot process new network messages during the stall.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-52914
Published
Nov 18, 2024
Updated
Nov 18, 2024
Vendor
Bitcoin
Product
Bitcoin Core
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 18, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 18, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <0.18.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Bitcoin · Bitcoin Coreversion=0 <0.18.0

Published CVSS scores

7.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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