CVE-2025-56513-NiceHash-Update-Chain-Compromise

#CVE-2025-56513

Critical Supply-Chain Vulnerability in NiceHash QuickMiner Update Mechanism

Author: Prince T Philip Role: Independent Security Researcher Severity: CRITICAL — CVSS 9.8 Impact: Remote Code Execution / Supply-Chain Compromise Status: Publicly Disclosed & Assigned CVE-2025-56513

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-56513 is a critical vulnerability discovered in NiceHash QuickMiner v6.12.0 that allows a remote attacker to compromise the software update process and execute arbitrary code on victim machines.

The root cause is the application's use of unencrypted HTTP for update delivery combined with the absence of digital signature verification or integrity checks. This design flaw enables a network-level attacker to perform a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack and replace legitimate updates with malicious payloads.

This vulnerability represents a severe software supply-chain risk and affects users globally.

Affected Product

Product: NiceHash QuickMiner

Version: v6.12.0

Component: Auto-Update Mechanism

Platform: Windows

Attack Vector: Network (MITM)

Technical Breakdown

Root Cause

The update workflow performs the following insecure operations:

1. Retrieves update metadata over unencrypted HTTP

2. Downloads update binaries over unencrypted HTTP

3. Applies the update without validating:

Digital signature

Cryptographic hash

Publisher authenticity

This violates fundamental secure update principles.

Vulnerability Class

CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

CWE-494: Download of Code Without Integrity Check

CWE-353: Missing Support for Integrity Check

Attack Scenario

An attacker positioned on the same network as the victim (public Wi-Fi, compromised router, ISP-level attacker, etc.) can:

1. Intercept the HTTP update request

2. Replace the legitimate update with a malicious binary

3. Serve the modified payload to the victim

4. Achieve full remote code execution

Because QuickMiner typically runs with elevated privileges, the attacker gains system-level control.

This turns the update mechanism into a weaponized malware delivery channel.

Global Impact

NiceHash QuickMiner is used by a large international user base for cryptocurrency mining operations. The vulnerability therefore exposes:

Individual users

Mining farms

Enterprise-scale deployments

Cloud-hosted mining infrastructure

This constitutes a global supply-chain exposure.

CVSS Score

CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL) Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Recommended Remediation

To properly secure the update system, vendors must:

1. Enforce HTTPS/TLS for all update communications

2. Implement strong cryptographic signature verification

3. Validate integrity using SHA-256 or stronger hashing

4. Reject updates that fail verification

5. Employ certificate pinning for update servers

Researcher Statement

This vulnerability highlights a persistent industry failure: update mechanisms remain one of the weakest links in modern software security.

CVE-2025-56513 demonstrates how a single design oversight can expose an entire global user base to silent compromise.

References

CVE Record: CVE-2025-56513

NiceHash QuickMiner v6.12.0

Author

Prince T Philip Independent Security Researcher Specializing in Offensive Security & Supply-Chain Vulnerabilities

Closing

This research is published in the interest of improving global software security and protecting users from systemic supply-chain compromise.

Responsible disclosure procedures were followed.