TI-2023-17070 Aliases CVE-2023-34234 GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2

Governor proposal creation may be blocked by frontrunning in OpenZeppelin

LOW 31CWE-862Published 2023-06-07 · Updated 2025-02-06

Key facts

Attack vector: Network
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Attack complexity: Low
Impact type: Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability: None · None · Low
Fix status: Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-862.

Summary

OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for smart contract development. By frontrunning the creation of a proposal, an attacker can become the proposer and gain the ability to cancel it. The attacker can do this repeatedly to try to prevent a proposal from being proposed at all. This impacts the `Governor` contract in v4.9.0 only, and the `GovernorCompatibilityBravo` contract since v4.3.0. This problem has been patched in 4.9.1 by introducing opt-in frontrunning protection. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may submit the proposal creation transaction to an endpoint with frontrunning protection as a workaround.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV

EPSS 0.00595 48th percentileScored 2026-11-07

Fix Fixed openzeppelin-contracts (OpenZeppelin): 4.9.1@openzeppelin/contracts (npm): 4.9.1+1 more product

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation: None
Automatable: Yes
Technical impact: Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Affected versions	Fixed in	Status	Source
OpenZeppelin	openzeppelin-contracts	4.3.0 to before 4.9.1	4.9.1	Patch available	CNA
—	@openzeppelin/contracts (npm)	4.3.0 to before 4.9.1	4.9.1	Patch available	GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2
—	@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable (npm)	4.3.0 to before 4.9.1	4.9.1	Patch available	GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2

openzeppelin-contracts VendorOpenZeppelin Affected 4.3.0 to before 4.9.1 Fixed in 4.9.1 Patch available CNA
@openzeppelin/contracts (npm) Vendor— Affected 4.3.0 to before 4.9.1 Fixed in 4.9.1 Patch available GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2
@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable (npm) Vendor— Affected 4.3.0 to before 4.9.1 Fixed in 4.9.1 Patch available GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPE	Versions	Role	Vendor
cpe:2.3:a:openzeppelin:contracts::::::node.js::*	4.3.0 to before 4.9.1	Vulnerable	OpenZeppelin
cpe:2.3:a:openzeppelin:contracts_upgradeable::::::node.js::*	4.3.0 to before 4.9.1	Vulnerable	OpenZeppelin

cpe:2.3:a:openzeppelin:contracts:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions 4.3.0 to before 4.9.1 Vulnerable ·OpenZeppelin
cpe:2.3:a:openzeppelin:contracts_upgradeable:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions 4.3.0 to before 4.9.1 Vulnerable ·OpenZeppelin

Remediation

Fix · CNA openzeppelin-contracts (OpenZeppelin) Fixed in 4.9.1
Fix · GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2 @openzeppelin/contracts (npm) Fixed in 4.9.1 Advisory →
Fix · GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2 @openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable (npm) Fixed in 4.9.1 Advisory →

Timeline

2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-34234
2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5h3x-9wvq-w4m2

References

Patch 1

https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/commit/d9474327a492f9f310f31bc53f38dbea56ed9a57

Advisory 2

Other 3

TI-2022-13196 OpenZeppelin Contracts for Cairo account cannot process transactions on Goerli CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
TI-2021-16554 TimelockController vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
TI-2021-16553 TimelockController vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
TI-2021-18096 UUPSUpgradeable vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
TI-2022-13238 GovernorVotesQuorumFraction updates to quorum may affect past defeated proposals in @openzeppelin/contracts CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
TI-2022-13212 OpenZeppelin Contracts's ERC165Checker may revert instead of returning false CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5

See all 19 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences