CVE-2023-23940 | OpenZeppelin Contracts for Cairo is vulnerable to signature validation bypass

OpenZeppelin Contracts for Cairo is a library for secure smart contract development written in Cairo for StarkNet, a decentralized ZK Rollup. `is_valid_eth_signature` is missing a call to `finalize_keccak` after calling `verify_eth_signature`. As a result, any contract using `is_valid_eth_signature` from the account library (such as the `EthAccount` preset) is vulnerable to a malicious sequencer. Specifically, the malicious sequencer would be able to bypass signature validation to impersonate an instance of these accounts. The issue has been patched in 0.6.1.

Published: 2023-02-03 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-23940 is rated Low Risk (32.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-23940

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-02-05 0.01% 0.06% +0.06%
2 2025-11-21 0.05% 0.01% -0.04%
3 2025-11-18 0.05%

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-23940

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
1.6 4.7 [email protected]
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.6 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-23940

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-23940

GHSA-626q-v9j4-mcp4 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — OpenZeppelin Contracts contains Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-23940

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openzeppelin contracts >= 0.2.0, < 0.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:openzeppelin:contracts:*:*:*:*:*:cairo:*:*

References for CVE-2023-23940

cvelogic Threat Intelligence