CVE-2024-24559 is a low-severity (CVSS 3.7) Broken Cryptographic Algorithm vulnerability in vyper. A fix is available for vyper — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Vyper SHA3 code generation bug
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-24559.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
vyperReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
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 Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | vyper | all versions | 0.4.0pip install --upgrade 'vyper==0.4.0' |
Affected Products
vypervyperlangDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for vyper, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update vyper to 0.4.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-24559 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-24559 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.