CVE-2024-32481
vyper's range(start, start + N) reverts for negative numbers
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
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
vyper's range(start, start + N) reverts for negative numbers
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
- Record
CVE-2024-32481- 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-681
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-1269
5.3
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
- Record
EUVD-2024-1269- 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-ppx5-q359-pvwj
5.3
vyper's range(start, start + N) reverts for negative numbers
Summary
When looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert.
Details
This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range (stmt.parse_For_range()):
This assertion was introduced in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/commit/3de1415ee77a9244eb04bdb695e249d3ec9ed868 to fix https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6r8q-pfpv-7cgj. The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail.
PoC
@external
def foo():
x:int256 = min_value(int256)
# revert when it should not since we have the following assertion that fails:
# [assert, [le, min_value(int256), max_value(int256) + 1 - 10]],
for i in range(x, x + 10):
pass
Patches
patched in v0.4.0, specifically, https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/3679 disallows this form of range().
Impact
Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert.
- Record
GHSA-ppx5-q359-pvwj- 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-681
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.3
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
- Record
CVE-2024-32481- 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-681
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.3
vyper's range(start, start + N) reverts for negative numbers
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
- Record
CVE-2024-32481- 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-681
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-ppx5-q359-pvwj
5.3
vyper's range(start, start + N) reverts for negative numbers
Summary
When looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert.
Details
This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range (stmt.parse_For_range()):
This assertion was introduced in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/commit/3de1415ee77a9244eb04bdb695e249d3ec9ed868 to fix https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6r8q-pfpv-7cgj. The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail.
PoC
@external
def foo():
x:int256 = min_value(int256)
# revert when it should not since we have the following assertion that fails:
# [assert, [le, min_value(int256), max_value(int256) + 1 - 10]],
for i in range(x, x + 10):
pass
Patches
patched in v0.4.0, specifically, https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/3679 disallows this form of range().
Impact
Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert.
- Record
GHSA-ppx5-q359-pvwj- 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-681
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2024-246
5.3
Vyper is a pythonic Smart Contract Language for the Ethereum virtual machine. Starting in version 0.3.8 and prior to version 0.4.0b1, when looping over a range of the form range(start, start + N), if start is negative, the execution will always revert. This issue is caused by an incorrect assertion inserted by the code generation of the range stmt.parse_For_range(). The issue arises when start is signed, instead of using sle, le is used and start is interpreted as an unsigned integer for the comparison. If it is a negative number, its 255th bit is set to 1 and is hence interpreted as a very large unsigned integer making the assertion always fail. Any contract having a range(start, start + N) where start is a signed integer with the possibility for start to be negative is affected. If a call goes through the loop while supplying a negative start the execution will revert. Version 0.4.0b1 fixes the issue.
- Record
PYSEC-2024-246- 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 |
|---|---|---|
vyperPyPI |
0.3.8 up to 0.4.0 | 0.4.0 |
vyperPyPI |
0.3.8 up to 0.4.0, plus listed versions 0.3.100.3.10rc10.3.10rc20.3.10rc30.3.10rc4 Show 14 moreShow less0.3.10rc50.3.90.4.0b10.4.0b20.4.0b30.4.0b40.4.0b50.4.0b60.4.0rc10.4.0rc20.4.0rc30.4.0rc40.4.0rc50.4.0rc6 |
0.4.0 |
vyperPyPI |
0.3.8 up to 0.4.0b1, plus listed versions 0.3.100.3.10rc10.3.10rc20.3.10rc30.3.10rc40.3.10rc50.3.9 |
0.4.0b1 |
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-2024-32481 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Vyperlang Vyper, published April 25, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.79%, the 56th percentile. Fixed in vyper 0.4.0.
References
github.com/vyperlang/vyper/security/advisories/GHSA-ppx5-q359-pvwj
github.com/vyperlang/vyper/commit/3de1415ee77a9244eb04bdb695e249d3ec9ed868
github.com/vyperlang/vyper/commit/5319cfbe14951e007ccdb323257e5ada869b35d5
github.com/vyperlang/vyper/blob/9136169468f317a53b4e7448389aa315f90b95ba/vyper/codegen/stmt.py
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-32481
github.com/advisories/GHSA-ppx5-q359-pvwj
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/32xxx/CVE-2024-32481.json
github.com/vyperlang/vyper