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Medium

Vyper's `_abi_decode` input not validated in complex expressions

  • Disclosed: 26.09.2023
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 11:20

Impact

_abi_decode() does not validate input when it is nested in an expression. the following example gets correctly validated (bounds checked):

vyper
x: int128 = _abi_decode(slice(msg.data, 4, 32), int128)

however, the following example is not bounds checked

vyper
@external
def abi_decode(x: uint256) -> uint256:
    a: uint256 = convert(_abi_decode(slice(msg.data, 4, 32), (uint8)), uint256) + 1
    return a  # abi_decode(256) returns: 257

the issue can be triggered by constructing an example where the output of _abi_decode is not internally passed to make_setter (an internal codegen routine) or other input validating routine.

Patches

https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/3626

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) vyper >= 0.3.4, < 0.3.10 0.3.10

References

CVSS score 5.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-682
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
vyper
Disclosed
26.09.2023
Updated
11.10.2026 11:20

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2023-191 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-cx2q-hfxr-rj97 - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: vyper

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (47) in the archive
Total entries
47
First → latest
03.2020 10.2026
Without a fix
5
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 3
  • High 14
  • Medium 20
  • Low 10

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Vyper negative array index bounds checks
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2024-24563 < 0.4.0 0.4.0
  2. Vyper's bounds check on built-in `slice()` function can be overflowed
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2024-24561 < 0.4.0 0.4.0
  3. concat built-in can corrupt memory in vyper
    High · 7.3 CVE-2024-22419 >= 0.3.0, < 0.4.0 0.4.0
  4. incorrect storage layout for contracts containing large arrays
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-46247 < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  5. Vyper's `_abi_decode` input not validated in complex expressions this entry
    Medium · 5.3 CVE-2023-42460 >= 0.3.4, < 0.3.10 0.3.10
  6. Vyper vulnerable to memory corruption in certain builtins utilizing `msize`
    High · 8.1 CVE-2023-42443 >= 0.3.4, < 0.3.10 0.3.10
  7. Vyper has incorrectly allocated named re-entrancy locks
    Critical · 8.7 CVE-2023-39363 >= 0.2.15, < 0.3.1 0.3.1
  8. Vyper vulnerable to incorrect ordering of arguments for kwargs passed to internal calls
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-32059 < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  9. Vyper vulnerable to integer overflow in loop
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-32058 < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  10. Vyper vulnerable to OOB DynArray access when array is on both LHS and RHS of an assignment
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-31146 < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  11. vyper vulnerable to storage allocator overflow
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-30837 < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  12. Incorrect success value returned in vyper
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-30629 >= 0.3.1, < 0.3.8 0.3.8
  13. Multiple evaluation of contract address in call in vyper
    High · 7.5 CVE-2022-29255 < 0.3.4 0.3.4
  14. Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the ethereum virtual machine. In affected versions, the return of `<iface>.returns_int128()` is not validated to fall within the bounds of `int128`. Thi
    High · 8.8 CVE-2022-24845 < 0.3.2 0.3.2
  15. Buffer Overflow in vyper
    High · 7.1 CVE-2022-24788 < 0.3.2 0.3.2
  16. Incorrect Comparison in Vyper
    High · 7.5 CVE-2022-24787 < 0.3.2 0.3.2
  17. Memory corruption when returning a literal struct with a private call inside of it
    High · 7.5 CVE-2021-41121 < 0.3.0 0.3.0
  18. Storage corruption due to variables overwritten by re-entrancy locks
    High ghsa-7f92-rr6w-cq64 >= 0.2.13, < 0.2.15 0.2.15

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