Transaction validity oversight in pallet-ethereum
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Frontier is Substrate's Ethereum compatibility layer. Prior to commit number 0b962f218f0cdd796dadfe26c3f09e68f7861b26, a bug in `pallet-ethereum` can cause invalid transactions to be included in the Ethereum block state in `pallet-ethereum` due to not validating the input data size. Any invalid transactions included this way have no possibility to alter the internal Ethereum or Substrate state. The transaction will appear to have be included, but is of no effect as it is rejected by the EVM engine. The impact is further limited by Substrate extrinsic size constraints. A patch is available in commit number 0b962f218f0cdd796dadfe26c3f09e68f7861b26. There are no workarounds aside from applying the patch.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| paritytech | frontier | before 0b962f2 | 0b962f2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | pallet-ethereum (crates.io) | up to 3.0.0 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-hw4v-5x4h-c3xm |
- frontier Vendorparitytech Affected before 0b962f2 Fixed in 0b962f2 Patch available CNA
- pallet-ethereum (crates.io) Vendor— Affected up to 3.0.0 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-hw4v-5x4h-c3xm
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:parity:frontier:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 2021-09-03 | Vulnerable | paritytech |
- cpe:2.3:a:parity:frontier:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 2021-09-03 Vulnerable ·paritytech
Remediation
- Fix · CNA frontier (paritytech) Fixed in 0b962f2
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-39193
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-hw4v-5x4h-c3xm
References
Patch 4
- https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/security/advisories/GHSA-hw4v-5x4h-c3xm
- https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/pull/465
- https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/pull/465/commits/8a2b890a2fb477d5fedd0e4335b00623832849ae
- https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/commit/0b962f218f0cdd796dadfe26c3f09e68f7861b26
More paritytech Frontier vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-24151 Frontier opcode SUICIDE touches too many storage values on large contracts CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-12975 Frontier's modexp precompile is slow for even modulus CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2022-16433 Message length overflow in frontier CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
- TI-2022-13155 Discrepency in transfer value and actual value due to incorrect truncation in Frontier CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2022-06061 Integer underflow in Frontier CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2022-18619 Incorrect Calculation in Frontier leads to inflated Ethereum chain gas prices CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
Sources
- CVE-2021-39193 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-39193 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hw4v-5x4h-c3xm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences