GHSA-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3
CRITICALagent-js: Insecure Key Generation in `Ed25519KeyIdentity.generate`
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.
Blast Radius
@dfinity/identity📦@dfinity/auth-clientReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
The library offers a function to generate an ed25519 key pair via Ed25519KeyIdentity.generate with an optional param to provide a 32 byte seed value, which will then be used as the secret key. When no seed value is provided, it is expected that the library generates the secret key using secure randomness. However, a recent change broke this guarantee and uses an insecure seed for key pair generation.
Since the private key of this identity (535yc-uxytb-gfk7h-tny7p-vjkoe-i4krp-3qmcl-uqfgr-cpgej-yqtjq-rqe) is compromised, one could lose funds associated with the principal on ledgers or lose access to a canister where this principal is the controller. Users are asked to take proactive measures mentioned below in Workarounds:Users to protect their assets.
Patches
Patch for the vulnerability is available in v1.0.1 for all the packages listed in the advisory. Please upgrade and deploy your canisters immediately.
Workarounds
Developers
The recommended fix is to upgrade the package to the patched version. If that is not possible, there are couple of workarounds to handle the insecure key generation.
- Invoking the function as
Ed25519KeyIdentity.generate(null)would fix the broken conditional evaluation and force the function to generate a securely random seed. However, this is not guaranteed to work for future upgrades. - Passing a securely generated randomness as a seed to
Ed25519KeyIdentity.generatewould force the library to use it as the seed to generate the key pair.
Users
Removing a controller of a canister if it's the affected principal
For all canisters you control, fetch the controllers of the canisters using
dfx canister info --ic <CANISTER>
If you see the principal 535yc-uxytb-gfk7h-tny7p-vjkoe-i4krp-3qmcl-uqfgr-cpgej-yqtjq-rqe as one of the controllers, follow the steps below
dfx identity whoami # record CURRENT_IDENTITY
dfx identity new <NEW_IDENTITY_NAME>
dfx identity use <NEW_IDENTITY_NAME>
dfx identity get-principal <NEW_IDENTITY_NAME> # record NEW_IDENTITY_PRINCIPAL
dfx identity use <CURRENT_IDENTITY>
dfx canister update-settings --ic <CANISTER> --add-controller <NEW_IDENTITY_PRINCIPAL>
dfx canister update-settings --ic <CANISTER> --remove-controller `535yc-uxytb-gfk7h-tny7p-vjkoe-i4krp-3qmcl-uqfgr-cpgej-yqtjq-rqe`
For more details on canister management, please visit here
Checking funds on wallets / ledgers
If you have funds on ledgers using a browser wallet, please check if the account principal matches 535yc-uxytb-gfk7h-tny7p-vjkoe-i4krp-3qmcl-uqfgr-cpgej-yqtjq-rqe. If it does, please create a new account and transfer the funds to the new account immediately.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @dfinity/identity | ≥ 0.20.0-beta.0&&< 1.0.1 | 1.0.1 |
| 📦npm | @dfinity/auth-client | ≥ 0.20.0-beta.0&&< 1.0.1 | 1.0.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @dfinity/identity. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update @dfinity/identity to 1.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3. 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-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-c9vv-fhgv-cjc3 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.