# CVE-2022-39384: OpenZeppelin Contracts initializer reentrancy may lead to double initialization

> Attackers can reenter initializer functions in minimal proxies, potentially causing double initialization and state corruption in smart contracts.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025

## What is CVE-2022-39384?

CVE-2022-39384 is a medium-severity vulnerability in openzeppelin-contracts, published on 4 Nov 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Before version 4.4.1 but after 3.2.0, initializer functions that are invoked separate from contract creation (the most prominent example being minimal proxies) may be reentered if they make an untrusted non-view external call. Once an initializer has finished running it can never be re-executed. However, an exception put in place to support multiple inheritance made reentrancy possible in the scenario described above, breaking the expectation that there is a single execution. Note that upgradeable proxies are commonly initialized together with contract creation, where reentrancy is not feasible, so the impact of this issue is believed to be minor. This issue has been patched, please upgrade to version 4.4.1. As a workaround, avoid untrusted external calls during initialization.

Weakness: CWE-665 (Improper Initialization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-39384?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Openzeppelin Contracts, Openzeppelin Contracts Upgradeable.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-39384?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-39384 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-39384 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in openzeppelin-contracts

- [CVE-2021-39167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39167/): TimelockController vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-39168](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39168/): TimelockController vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-41264](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41264/): UUPSUpgradeable vulnerability in OpenZeppelin Contracts (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-35961](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35961/): ECDSA signature malleability in OpenZeppelin Contracts (high 7.9)
- [CVE-2022-31198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31198/): GovernorVotesQuorumFraction updates to quorum may affect past defeated proposals in @openzeppelin/contracts (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-39384 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-39384 is a medium-severity vulnerability in openzeppelin-contracts, published on 4 Nov 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-39384 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: openzeppelin-contracts. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-39384/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-39384/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-39384
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-39384
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-39384

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-39384/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.