CVE-2023-42443

CVE-2023-42443 is a high-severity out-of-bounds write vulnerability in vyper (pip), affecting versions >= 0.3.4, <= 0.3.9. It is fixed in 0.3.10.

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Runtime intelligence, not another scanner.

Summary

Vyper vulnerable to memory corruption in certain builtins utilizing msize

raw_call

  • memory is not fully initialized, ex. all parameters to an external function live in calldata
    and
  • The data argument of the builtin is msg.data.
    and
  • The to, value or gas passed to the builtin is some complex expression that results in writing to uninitialized memory (e.g. calling an internal function)

create_copy_of

  • memory is not fully initialized, ex. all parameters to an external function live in calldata
    and
  • The value or salt passed to the builtin is some complex expression that results in writing to uninitialized memory (e.g. calling an internal function)

create_from_blueprint

  • memory is not fully initialized, ex. all parameters to an external function live in calldata
    and
  • Either no constructor parameters are passed to the builtin or raw_args is set to True.
    and
  • The value or salt passed to the builtin is some complex expression that results in writing to uninitialized memory (e.g. calling an internal function)

Note: When the builtin is being called from an internal function f from a function g, the issue is not present provided that g has written to memory before calling f.

Examples

raw_call

In the following contract, calling bar(1,1) will return:

ae42e95100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff00000001

instead of:

ae42e95100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
identity: constant(address) = 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000004

@external
def foo():
    pass

@internal
@view
def get_address()->address:
    a:uint256 = max_value(uint256) # 0xfff...fff
    return identity
@external
def bar(f:uint256, u:uint256) -> Bytes[100]:
    a: Bytes[100] = raw_call(self.get_address(), msg.data, max_outsize=100)
    return a

create_copy_of

In the following contract, after calling test(), the code deployed at self.created_address does not match the bytecode at target.

created_address: public(address)

@external
def test(target: address) -> address:
    # The expression in salt= is complex and will require to store to memory
    self.created_address = create_copy_of(target, salt = keccak256(_abi_encode(target)))
    return self.created_address

create_from_blueprint

In the following contract, after calling test(), the init bytecode used to create the contract deployed at the address self.created_address will not match the blueprint bytecode stored at target.

created_address: public(address)

salt: constant(bytes32) = keccak256("kebab")

@external
@payable
def test(target: address):
    # The expression in salt= is complex and will require to store to memory
    self.created_address = create_from_blueprint(target, code_offset=0, salt=keccak256(_abi_encode(target)))

Workarounds

The complex expressions that are being passed as kwargs to the builtin should be cached in memory prior to the call to the builtin. For the last example above, it would be:

created_address: public(address)

salt: constant(bytes32) = keccak256("kebab")

@external
@payable
def test(target: address):
    salt: bytes32 = keccak256(_abi_encode(target))
    self.created_address = create_from_blueprint(target, code_offset=0, salt=salt)

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

Impact

In certain conditions, the memory used by the builtins raw_call, create_from_blueprint and create_copy_of can be corrupted.

  • For raw_call, the argument buffer of the call can be corrupted, leading to incorrect calldata in the sub-context.
  • For create_from_blueprint and create_copy_of, the buffer for the to-be-deployed bytecode can be corrupted, leading to deploying incorrect bytecode.

Below are the conditions that must be fulfilled for the corruption to happen for each builtin:

A write operation targets a memory location beyond the intended buffer boundary. Typical impact: memory corruption, crash, or arbitrary code execution.

CVE-2023-42443 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.3.10); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

vyper (>= 0.3.4, <= 0.3.9)

Security releases

vyper → 0.3.10 (pip)

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

issue tracking in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/issues/3609, patched in #3610

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2023-42443? CVE-2023-42443 is a high-severity out-of-bounds write vulnerability in vyper (pip), affecting versions >= 0.3.4, <= 0.3.9. It is fixed in 0.3.10. A write operation targets a memory location beyond the intended buffer boundary.
  2. How severe is CVE-2023-42443? CVE-2023-42443 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
  3. Which versions of vyper are affected by CVE-2023-42443? vyper (pip) versions >= 0.3.4, <= 0.3.9 is affected.
  4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-42443? Yes. CVE-2023-42443 is fixed in 0.3.10. Upgrade to this version or later.
  5. Is CVE-2023-42443 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-42443 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  6. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-42443 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
  7. How do I fix CVE-2023-42443? Upgrade vyper to 0.3.10 or later.

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