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GHSA-6845-xw22-ffxv CVE-2024-24559 PYSEC-2024-147

Vyper sha3 codegen bug

Medium PyPI
Severity
3.7 / 10
Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.26%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 17.17% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-327 Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
Fix
0.4.0
Upgrade vyper to this version or later

Description

Summary

There is an error in the stack management when compiling the IR for sha3_64. Concretely, the height variable is miscalculated. The vulnerability can't be triggered without writing the IR by hand. That is, it cannot be triggered from regular vyper code, it can only be triggered by using the fang binary directly (this binary used to be called vyper-ir prior to v0.3.4).

Details

To compile sha3_64, the arg[0] and arg[1] have to be compiled: https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/blob/c150fc49ee9375a930d177044559b83cb95f7963/vyper/ir/compile_ir.py#L585-L586

As can be seen, after compiling the 0th arg, the height variable isn't increased. If new withargs are defined in the inner scope, they are manipulated correctly, because both their height is off and also the global height is off and thus their placement on the stack is computed correctly.

sha3_64 is used for retrieval in mappings. No flow that would cache the key was found, the issue shouldn't be possible to trigger when compiling the compiler-generated IR.

PoC

Suppose the following hand-written IR:

(with _loc
	(with val 1 
		(with key 2 
			(sha3_64 val key))) 
				(seq 
					(sstore _loc 
					(with x (sload _loc) 
						(with ans (add x 1) (seq (assert (ge ans x)) ans))))))

after compilation:

the generated bytecode: 6001600281806020525f5260405f2090509050805460018101818110610026579050815550005b5f80fd

0000    60  PUSH1 0x01
0002    60  PUSH1 0x02
0004    81  DUP2
0005    80  DUP1       *********** bad code here!!!!!!
0006    60  PUSH1 0x20
0008    52  MSTORE

It can be seen that the second DUP will dup the item on the top of the stack which is incorrect.

Patches

Patched in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4063.

Impact

Versions v0.2.0-v0.3.10 were evaluated, and access of the variable with the invalid height is not reachable from IR generated by the vyper front-end. Because the issue isn't triggered during normal compilation of vyper code, the impact is considered low.

Affected versions

PyPI

PackageVulnerableFixed in
vyper
< 0.4.0
0.4.0
vyper
< 0.4.0b1
0.4.0b1

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

vyper PyPI → 0.4.0

pip
pip install --upgrade "vyper>=0.4.0"
poetry
poetry add "vyper>=0.4.0"
uv
uv add "vyper>=0.4.0"

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 3.7

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

Weakness

CWE-327: Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm

The product uses a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm or protocol.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: When there is a need to store or transmit sensitive data, use strong, up-to-date cryptographic algorithms to encrypt that data. Select a well-vetted algorithm that is currently considered to be strong by experts in the field, and use well-tested implementations. As with all cryptographic mechanisms, the source code should be available for analysis. For example, US government systems require FIPS 140-2 certification [REF-1192]. Do not develop custom or private cryptographic algorithms. They will likely be exposed to attacks that are well-understood by cryptographers. Reverse engineering techniques are mature. If the algorithm can be compromised if attackers find out how it works, then it is especially weak. Periodically ensure that the cryptography has not become obsolete. Some older algorithms, once thought to require a billion years of computing time, can now be broken in days or hours. This includes MD4, MD5, SHA1, DES, and other algorithms that were once regarded as strong. [REF-267]
  • Architecture and Design: Ensure that the design allows one cryptographic algorithm to be replaced with another in the next generation or version. Where possible, use wrappers to make the interfaces uniform. This will make it easier to upgrade to stronger algorithms. With hardware, design the product at the Intellectual Property (IP) level so that one cryptographic algorithm can be replaced with another in the next generation of the hardware product.
  • Architecture and Design: Carefully manage and protect cryptographic keys (see CWE-320). If the keys can be guessed or stolen, then the strength of the cryptography itself is irrelevant.
  • Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482]. Industry-standard implementations will save development time and may be more likely to avoid errors that can occur during implementation of cryptographic algorithms. Consider the ESAPI Encryption feature.
  • Implementation, Architecture and Design: When using industry-approved techniques, use them correctly. Don't cut corners by skipping resource-intensive steps (CWE-325). These steps are often essential for preventing common attacks.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-2r3x-4mrv-mcxf
Vyper: Memory corruption using function calls within tuples / nested calls
Medium Also affects vyper
GHSA-4v7v-gqf9-ww2g
Vyper: Call stack corruption when passing complex type containing non-base type members as argument
Medium Also affects vyper
GHSA-vg88-3v92-rjx2
Vyper: Return inside for loop more than 1 level deep
Low Also affects vyper
GHSA-3vcg-j39x-cwfm
Vyper's `slice()` may elide side-effects when output length is 0
Low Also affects vyper
GHSA-qhr6-mgqr-mchm
Vyper's `concat()` builtin may elide side-effects for zero-length arguments
Low Also affects vyper
GHSA-h33q-mhmp-8p67
Vyper has a double eval in For List Iter
High Also affects vyper
GHSA-4w26-8p97-f4jp
AugAssign evaluation order causing OOB write within the object in Vyper
Critical Also affects vyper
GHSA-2p94-8669-xg86
Vyper's sqrt doesn't define rounding behavior
High Also affects vyper
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