Privilege Escalation in @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable (CVE-2021-39168)
Summary
Vulnerability in @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable (CVE-2021-39168). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to 3.4.2 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
OpenZepplin is a library for smart contract development. In affected versions a vulnerability in TimelockController allowed an actor with the executor role to escalate privileges. Further details about the vulnerability will be disclosed at a later date. As a workaround revoke the executor role from accounts not strictly under the team's control. We recommend revoking all executors that are not also proposers. When applying this mitigation, ensure there is at least one proposer and executor remaining.
Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD GitHub Advisory OSV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2021-39168 has been found in @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
What to do: upgrade @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable to 3.4.2 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable CVE-2021-39168" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2021-39168 (@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable) — CWE-269
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Patched: 3.4.2 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-269) exists in @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable.
Severity: ?. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 3.4.2.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r '@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
grep -r '@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeableを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable to 3.4.2ステージング環境で 3.4.2 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package github.com
- patch github.com
- patch github.com