CVE-2023-40014
OpenZeppelin Contracts's ERC2771Context with custom forwarder may lead to zero-valued _msgSender
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts's ERC2771Context with custom forwarder may lead to zero-valued _msgSender
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
CVE-2023-40014- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2289
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
EUVD-2023-2289- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts vulnerable to Improper Escaping of Output
Impact
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders.
Patches
The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
GHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
CVE-2023-40014- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts's ERC2771Context with custom forwarder may lead to zero-valued _msgSender
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
CVE-2023-40014- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts vulnerable to Improper Escaping of Output
Impact
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders.
Patches
The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
GHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-116
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-40014
5.3
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to version 4.9.3, contracts using ERC2771Context along with a custom trusted forwarder may see _msgSender return address(0) in calls that originate from the forwarder with calldata shorter than 20 bytes. This combination of circumstances does not appear to be common, in particular it is not the case for MinimalForwarder from OpenZeppelin Contracts, or any deployed forwarder the team is aware of, given that the signer address is appended to all calls that originate from these forwarders. The problem has been patched in v4.9.3.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-40014- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
@openzeppelin/contractsnpm |
4.0.0 up to 4.9.3 | 4.9.3 |
@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeablenpm |
4.0.0 up to 4.9.3 | 4.9.3 |
smartUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.4-2 |
None known |
smartUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.4-2 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-40014 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Openzeppelin Contracts, published August 10, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.74%, the 54th percentile. Fixed in @openzeppelin/contracts 4.9.3.
References
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/security/advisories/GHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/pull/4481
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/pull/4484
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/commit/9445f96223041abf2bf08daa56f8da50b674cbcd
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/commit/e4435eed757d4309436b1e06608e97b6d6e2fdb5
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/releases/tag/v4.9.3
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nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40014
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/blob/v4.9.3/CHANGELOG.md
github.com/advisories/GHSA-g4vp-m682-qqmp
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/40xxx/CVE-2023-40014.json
github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-40014
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40014