GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w is a low-severity (CVSS 3.7) Buffer Overflow vulnerability in vyper. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for vyper — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Vyper's `_abi_decode` vulnerable to Memory Overflow
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 GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
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
If an excessively large value is specified as the starting index for an array in _abi_decode, it can cause the read position to overflow. This results in the decoding of values outside the intended array bounds, potentially leading to bugs in contracts that use arrays within _abi_decode. The advisory has been assigned low severity, because it is only observable if there is a memory write between two invocations of abi_decode on the same input.
Proof of Concept
event Pwn:
pass
@external
def f(x: Bytes[32 * 3]):
a: Bytes[32] = b"foo"
y: Bytes[32 * 3] = x
decoded_y1: Bytes[32] = _abi_decode(y, Bytes[32])
a = b"bar"
decoded_y2: Bytes[32] = _abi_decode(y, Bytes[32])
if decoded_y1 != decoded_y2:
log Pwn()
Sending the following calldata results in Pwn being emitted.
0xd45754f8
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000020
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000060
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffa0
Patches
Patched in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/3925, https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4091, https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4144, https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4060.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | vyper | all versions | 0.4.0pip install --upgrade 'vyper==0.4.0' |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & 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 GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9p8r-4xp4-gw5w across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.