NIST deprecates RSA-2048 from 2030. Find every one of them before attackers do.
📦
📦 npm
Not in CISA KEV
NONE severity

OpenZeppelin Contracts Bytes's lastIndexOf function with position argument performs out-of-bound memory access on empty buffersGHSA-9rcw-c2f9-2j55

NONEFix: OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts#5797

GHSA-9rcw-c2f9-2j55 is a none-severity (CVSS 0) Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in @openzeppelin/contracts. A fix is available for @openzeppelin/contracts — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2025-54070
Published
Updated
Affected
2 pkgs
Patched
2 / 2
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Nov 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

  • CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-9rcw-c2f9-2j55.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs34th percentile — riskier than 34% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.30%0.60%0.90%0.1%0.4%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

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

2 pkgs affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

4Kother npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream
@openzeppelin/contractsnpm
1.4Mdownloads / week
@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeablenpm
434Kdownloads / week

Description

OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 5.2.0 and prior to version 5.4.0, the lastIndexOf(bytes,byte,uint256) function of the Bytes.sol library may access uninitialized memory when the following two conditions hold: 1) the provided buffer length is empty (i.e. buffer.length == 0) and position is not 2**256 - 1 (i.e. pos != type(uint256).max). The pos argument could be used to access arbitrary data outside of the buffer bounds. This could lead to the operation running out of gas, or returning an invalid index (outside of the empty buffer). Processing this invalid result for accessing the buffer would cause a revert under normal conditions. When triggered, the function reads memory at offset buffer + 0x20 + pos. If memory at that location (outside the buffer) matches the search pattern, the function would return an out of bound index instead of the expected type(uint256).max. This creates unexpected behavior where callers receive a valid-looking index pointing outside buffer bounds. Subsequent memory accesses that don't check bounds and use the returned index must carefully review the potential impact depending on their setup. Code relying on this function returning type(uint256).max for empty buffers or using the returned index without bounds checking could exhibit undefined behavior. Users should upgrade to version 5.4.0 to receive a patch.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦npm@openzeppelin/contracts≥ 5.2.0&&< 5.4.05.4.0npm install @openzeppelin/contracts@5.4.0
📦npm@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable≥ 5.2.0&&< 5.4.05.4.0npm install @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable@5.4.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @openzeppelin/contracts, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update @openzeppelin/contracts to 5.4.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9rcw-c2f9-2j55 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The `lastIndexOf(bytes,byte,uint256)` function of the `Bytes.sol` library may access uninitialized memory when the following two conditions hold: 1) the provided buffer length is empty (i.e. `buffer.length == 0`) and position is not `2**256 - 1` (i.e. `pos != type(uint256).max`). The `pos` argument could be used to access arbitrary data outside of the buffer bounds. This could lead to the operation running out of gas, or returning an invalid index (outside of the empty buffer). Processing this invalid result for accessing the `buffer` would cause a revert under normal conditions.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-9rcw-c2f9-2j55 in your dependencies?

Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.

OpenZeppelin Contracts Bytes's lastIndexOf function with…