GHSA-2P94-8669-XG86
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-02-21 22:43 – Updated: 2025-04-09 20:11Vyper's sqrt() builtin uses the babylonian method to calculate square roots of decimals. Unfortunately, improper handling of the oscillating final states may lead to sqrt incorrectly returning rounded up results.
the fix is tracked in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4486
Vulnerability Details
Vyper injects the following code to handle calculation of decimal sqrt. x is the input provided by user.
assert x >= 0.0
z: decimal = 0.0
if x == 0.0:
z = 0.0
else:
z = x / 2.0 + 0.5
y: decimal = x
for i: uint256 in range(256):
if z == y:
break
y = z
z = (x / z + z) / 2.0
Notably, the terminal condition of the algorithm is either z_cur == z_prev, or the algorithm runs for 256 rounds.
However, for certain inputs, z might actually oscillate between N and N + epsilon, where N ** 2 <= x < (N + epsilon) ** 2. This means that the current behavior does not define whether it will round up or down to the nearest epsilon.
The example snippet here returns 0.9999999999, the rounded up result for sqrt(0.9999999998). This is due to the oscillation ending in N + epsilon instead of N.
@external
def test():
d: decimal = 0.9999999998
r: decimal = sqrt(d) #this will be 0.9999999999
Note that sqrt() diverges from isqrt() here -- isqrt() consistently rounds down, so it is not subject to the same issue.
Impact Details
Since sqrt() can be used for determining boundary conditions, rounding down is preferred. However, since sqrt() is used very rarely in the wild, this advisory has been assigned an impact of low.
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 0.4.0"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "vyper"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.4.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-26622"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-682"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2025-02-21T22:43:30Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2025-02-21T22:15:13Z",
"severity": "LOW"
},
"details": "Vyper\u0027s `sqrt()` builtin uses the babylonian method to calculate square roots of decimals. Unfortunately, improper handling of the oscillating final states may lead to sqrt incorrectly returning rounded up results.\n\nthe fix is tracked in https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4486\n\n### Vulnerability Details\n\nVyper injects the following code to handle calculation of decimal sqrt. x is the input provided by user.\n```python\nassert x \u003e= 0.0\nz: decimal = 0.0\n\nif x == 0.0:\n z = 0.0\nelse:\n z = x / 2.0 + 0.5\n y: decimal = x\n\n for i: uint256 in range(256):\n if z == y:\n break\n y = z\n z = (x / z + z) / 2.0\n```\nNotably, the terminal condition of the algorithm is either `z_cur == z_prev`, or the algorithm runs for 256 rounds.\n\nHowever, for certain inputs, `z` might actually oscillate between `N` and `N + epsilon`, where `N ** 2 \u003c= x \u003c (N + epsilon) ** 2`. This means that the current behavior does not define whether it will round up or down to the nearest epsilon.\n\nThe example snippet here returns 0.9999999999, the rounded up result for sqrt(0.9999999998). This is due to the oscillation ending in N + epsilon instead of N.\n```vyper\n@external\ndef test():\n d: decimal = 0.9999999998\n r: decimal = sqrt(d) #this will be 0.9999999999\n```\n\nNote that `sqrt()` diverges from `isqrt()` here -- `isqrt()` consistently rounds down, so it is not subject to the same issue.\n\n### Impact Details\n\nSince `sqrt()` can be used for determining boundary conditions, rounding down is preferred. However, since `sqrt()` is used very rarely in the wild, this advisory has been assigned an impact of `low`.",
"id": "GHSA-2p94-8669-xg86",
"modified": "2025-04-09T20:11:26Z",
"published": "2025-02-21T22:43:30Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/security/advisories/GHSA-2p94-8669-xg86"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-26622"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper/pull/4486"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/vyper/PYSEC-2025-29.yaml"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/vyperlang/vyper"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "Vyper\u0027s sqrt doesn\u0027t define rounding behavior"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.