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A vulnerable node running Go Ethereum (Geth) can be forced to shut down or crash by a remote attacker sending a single, specially crafted peer-to-peer (P2P) message. The vulnerability lies within the handling of a message during the peer connection handshake. Specifically, when computing a shared secret key, the implementation fails to verify that the Elliptic Curve (EC) public key provided by the remote party is a valid point on the secp256k1 curve. By sending an all-zero value as the public key, the cryptographic handshake calculations receive unexpected input. This lack of input validation leads to unhandled errors or the consumption of excessive resources, causing the node’s main process to crash. This results in a complete Denial of Service for that specific node, removing it from the Ethereum network until it is restarted. The issue is resolved in Geth versions v1.16.9 and v1.17.0 .
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: go-ethereum
Version: prior v1.16.9
Vulnerability : Denial of Service
Severity: High
date: Feb 18, 2026
Prediction: Feb 20, 2026
What Undercode Say:
Analytics:
`$ geth version`
`$ sudo netstat -tulpn | grep geth`
`$ tail -f /var/log/geth.log`
Exploit:
1. Identify vulnerable Geth node.
2. Craft malicious P2P handshake.
3. Send all-zero public key.
4. Node crashes immediately.
Protection from this CVE:
Immediately update Geth to v1.16.9, v1.17.0, or later. No workarounds are available .
Impact:
Complete node shutdown, loss of network participation, and potential chain synchronization interruption .
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
Extra Source Hub:
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