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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.3

CVE-2023-34459 json

OpenZeppelin Contracts's MerkleProof multiproofs may allow proving arbitrary leaves for specific trees

published 2023-06-16 3 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also GHSA-wprv-93r4-jj2p , EUVD-2023-1907

cvss
5.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 31%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for smart contract development. Starting in version 4.7.0 and prior to version 4.9.2, when the `verifyMultiProof`, `verifyMultiProofCalldata`, `procesprocessMultiProof`, or `processMultiProofCalldat` functions are in use, it is possible to construct merkle trees that allow forging a valid multiproof for an arbitrary set of leaves.

A contract may be vulnerable if it uses multiproofs for verification and the merkle tree that is processed includes a node with value 0 at depth 1 (just under the root). This could happen inadvertedly for balanced trees with 3 leaves or less, if the leaves are not hashed. This could happen deliberately if a malicious tree builder includes such a node in the tree.

A contract is not vulnerable if it uses single-leaf proving (`verify`, `verifyCalldata`, `processProof`, or `processProofCalldata`), or if it uses multiproofs with a known tree that has hashed leaves. Standard merkle trees produced or validated with the @openzeppelin/merkle-tree library are safe.

The problem has been patched in version 4.9.2.

Some workarounds are available. For those using multiproofs: When constructing merkle trees hash the leaves and do not insert empty nodes in your trees. Using the @openzeppelin/merkle-tree package eliminates this issue. Do not accept user-provided merkle roots without reconstructing at least the first level of the tree. Verify the merkle tree structure by reconstructing it from the leaves.

Patch / fix

  • npm @openzeppelin/contracts 4.9.2
  • npm @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable 4.9.2
  • openzeppelin contracts 4.9.2
  • openzeppelin contracts_upgradeable 4.9.2

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
22 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.37% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 31% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
GitHub 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm @openzeppelin/contracts
>=4.7.0, <4.9.2
4.9.2
npm @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable
>=4.7.0, <4.9.2
4.9.2

Affected products

  • OpenZeppelin openzeppelin-contracts

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-354 Improper Validation of Integrity Check Value

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.