CVE-2025-54427
Polkadot Frontier contains missing `check_inherent` for `note_min_gas_price_target` inflates gas price
Published Jul 28, 2025
CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 Medium
EPSS < 1%
KEV · Not listed
Description
Polkadot Frontier is an Ethereum and EVM compatibility layer for Polkadot and Substrate. The extrinsic note_min_gas_price_target is an inherent extrinsic, meaning only the block producer can call it. To ensure correctness, the ProvideInherent trait should be implemented for each inherent, which includes the check_inherent call. This allows other nodes to verify if the input (in this case, the target value) is correct. However, prior to commit a754b3d, the check_inherent function has not been implemented for note_min_gas_price_target. This lets the block producer set the target value without verification. The target is then used to set the MinGasPrice, which has an upper and lower bound defined in the on_initialize hook. The block producer can set the target to the upper bound. Which also increases the upper and lower bounds for the next block. Over time, this could result in continuously raising the gas price, making contract execution too expensive and ineffective for users. An attacker could use this flaw to manipulate the gas price, potentially leading to significantly inflated transaction fees. Such manipulation could render contract execution prohibitively expensive for users, effectively resulting in a denial-of-service condition for the network. This is fixed in version a754b3d.
Affected Products
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CVE record
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NVD configurations
No data
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Red Hat packages
No data
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OpenCVE enrichment
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| polkadot-evm | frontier | affected |
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No data.
No data.
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Polkadot | Frontier | — |
Remediation
Tracking
Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
 EUVD |
EUVD-2025-22951 | Polkadot Frontier is an Ethereum and EVM compatibility layer for Polkadot and Substrate. The extrinsic note_min_gas_price_target is an inherent extrinsic, meaning only the block producer can call it. To ensure correctness, the ProvideInherent trait should be implemented for each inherent, which includes the check_inherent call. This allows other nodes to verify if the input (in this case, the target value) is correct. However, prior to commit a754b3d, the check_inherent function has not been implemented for note_min_gas_price_target. This lets the block producer set the target value without verification. The target is then used to set the MinGasPrice, which has an upper and lower bound defined in the on_initialize hook. The block producer can set the target to the upper bound. Which also increases the upper and lower bounds for the next block. Over time, this could result in continuously raising the gas price, making contract execution too expensive and ineffective for users. An attacker could use this flaw to manipulate the gas price, potentially leading to significantly inflated transaction fees. Such manipulation could render contract execution prohibitively expensive for users, effectively resulting in a denial-of-service condition for the network. This is fixed in version a754b3d. |
Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
Attack Requirements None
User Interaction None
Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact None
Vulnerable System Integrity Impact Low
Vulnerable System Availability Impact Low
Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact None
Subsequent System Integrity Impact None
Subsequent System Availability Impact None
No CVSS v3.1
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.663% probability within 30 days)
Exploitation none
Automatable yes
Technical Impact partial
References
History
Jul 29, 2025 10:15 AM
First appearance in the feed. Affected vendors updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Polkadot
Polkadot frontier |
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| Vendors & Products |
Polkadot
Polkadot frontier |
Jul 28, 2025 9:15 PM
Scoring metrics updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
|
Jul 28, 2025 8:45 PM
Description updated. Title updated. Weaknesses updated. Added references. Scoring metrics updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Polkadot Frontier is an Ethereum and EVM compatibility layer for Polkadot and Substrate. The extrinsic note_min_gas_price_target is an inherent extrinsic, meaning only the block producer can call it. To ensure correctness, the ProvideInherent trait should be implemented for each inherent, which includes the check_inherent call. This allows other nodes to verify if the input (in this case, the target value) is correct. However, prior to commit a754b3d, the check_inherent function has not been implemented for note_min_gas_price_target. This lets the block producer set the target value without verification. The target is then used to set the MinGasPrice, which has an upper and lower bound defined in the on_initialize hook. The block producer can set the target to the upper bound. Which also increases the upper and lower bounds for the next block. Over time, this could result in continuously raising the gas price, making contract execution too expensive and ineffective for users. An attacker could use this flaw to manipulate the gas price, potentially leading to significantly inflated transaction fees. Such manipulation could render contract execution prohibitively expensive for users, effectively resulting in a denial-of-service condition for the network. This is fixed in version a754b3d. | |
| Title | Polkadot Frontier contains missing `check_inherent` for `note_min_gas_price_target` inflates gas price | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-682 CWE-754 |
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| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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