Snowman Merkle Airdrop

AI First Flight #10
Beginner FriendlyFoundrySolidityNFT
EXP
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Submission Details
Severity: high
Valid

Missing access control on `mintSnowman()` allows anyone to mint unlimited Snowman NFTs without staking any Snow tokens, bypassing the entire stake-to-earn mechanism

Root + Impact

Description


`mintSnowman()` is declared `external` with no modifier, no `require` statement, and no `if/revert` check restricting who can call it or what values they pass.

```solidity
function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external {
for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
_safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
s_TokenCounter++;
}
}
```

As a result, any address can call `mintSnowman()` directly with any `receiver` and any `amount`, minting NFTs to arbitrary addresses without ever staking `Snow` tokens or interacting with `SnowmanAirdrop.sol`.

Per the protocol README:
> "The `Snow` token is staked in the `SnowmanAirdrop` contract, and the staker receives `Snowman` NFTs in the value of how many `Snow` tokens they own."

This staking requirement is never enforced on-chain, because `Snowman.sol` does not restrict `mintSnowman()` to only be callable by the `SnowmanAirdrop` contract.

Notably, the contract already declares an `SM__NotAllowed()` error — but never uses it anywhere. This strongly suggests an access control check was intended but never implemented.
Risk

Likelihood:

  • Reason 1 // Describe WHEN this will occur (avoid using "if" statements)

  • Reason 2

Impact:

An attacker can mint an unlimited number of `Snowman` NFTs for zero cost, to any address, which completely nullifies the protocol's stake-to-earn mechanism as described in the README. No existing user funds or already-staked tokens are stolen as a direct result of this bug, which is why this is rated High rather than Critical — but the core economic model of the airdrop (NFTs earned in proportion to staked Snow) is entirely meaningless as long as this function remains unrestricted.

Proof of Concept

**Proof of Concept:**
```solidity
function test_anyoneCanMintSnowmanBypassingAirdropContract() public {
// alice is a random EOA — NOT the SnowmanAirdrop contract,
// has staked zero Snow tokens, and has never interacted with SnowmanAirdrop.sol
vm.prank(alice);
nft.mintSnowman(alice, 1); // should be impossible without staking — but succeeds
vm.prank(bob);
nft.mintSnowman(bob, 1); // same for a second, unrelated address
assert(nft.balanceOf(alice) == 1); // proves unauthorized mint succeeded
assert(nft.balanceOf(bob) == 1); // proves it's not a one-off fluke, anyone can do it
assert(nft.getTokenCounter() == 2);
}
```

Recommended Mitigation

- remove this code
+ add this codeRestrict `mintSnowman()` to only be callable by the trusted `SnowmanAirdrop` contract, using the existing (currently unused) `SM__NotAllowed()` error:
```diff
+ address private s_snowmanAirdrop;
+ modifier onlyAirdropContract() {
+ if (msg.sender != s_snowmanAirdrop) {
+ revert SM__NotAllowed();
+ }
+ _;
+ }
+ function setSnowmanAirdrop(address _snowmanAirdrop) external onlyOwner {
+ s_snowmanAirdrop = _snowmanAirdrop;
+ }
- function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external {
+ function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external onlyAirdropContract {
for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
_safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
s_TokenCounter++;
}
}
```
Note: checking that the caller holds `Snow` tokens (e.g., `require(snow.balanceOf(msg.sender) > 0)`) is insufficient — an attacker could trivially acquire a single `Snow` token via `earnSnow()` and still call `mintSnowman()` directly, bypassing `SnowmanAirdrop.sol` entirely. Only restricting the caller to the specific, trusted `SnowmanAirdrop` contract address closes the vulnerability completely.
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge about 6 hours ago
Submission Judgement Published
Validated
Assigned finding tags:

[H-01] Unrestricted NFT Minting in Snowman.sol

# Root + Impact ## Description * The Snowman NFT contract is designed to mint NFTs through a controlled airdrop mechanism where only authorized entities should be able to create new tokens for eligible recipients. * The `mintSnowman()` function lacks any access control mechanisms, allowing any external address to call the function and mint unlimited NFTs to any recipient without authorization, completely bypassing the intended airdrop distribution model. ```Solidity // Root cause in the codebase function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external { @> // NO ACCESS CONTROL - Any address can call this function for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) { _safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter); emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter); s_TokenCounter++; } @> // NO VALIDATION - No checks on amount or caller authorization } ``` ## Risk **Likelihood**: * The vulnerability will be exploited as soon as any malicious actor discovers the contract address, since the function is publicly accessible with no restrictions * Automated scanning tools and MEV bots continuously monitor new contract deployments for exploitable functions, making discovery inevitable **Impact**: * Complete destruction of tokenomics through unlimited supply inflation, rendering all legitimate NFTs worthless * Total compromise of the airdrop mechanism, allowing attackers to mint millions of tokens and undermine the project's credibility and economic model ## Proof of Concept ```Solidity // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT pragma solidity ^0.8.24; import {Test, console2} from "forge-std/Test.sol"; import {Snowman} from "../src/Snowman.sol"; contract SnowmanExploitPoC is Test { Snowman public snowman; address public attacker = makeAddr("attacker"); string constant SVG_URI = "data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2Zy4uLi4+"; function setUp() public { snowman = new Snowman(SVG_URI); } function testExploit_UnrestrictedMinting() public { console2.log("=== UNRESTRICTED MINTING EXPLOIT ==="); console2.log("Initial token counter:", snowman.getTokenCounter()); console2.log("Attacker balance before:", snowman.balanceOf(attacker)); // EXPLOIT: Anyone can mint unlimited NFTs vm.prank(attacker); snowman.mintSnowman(attacker, 1000); // Mint 1K NFTs console2.log("Final token counter:", snowman.getTokenCounter()); console2.log("Attacker balance after:", snowman.balanceOf(attacker)); // Verify exploit success assertEq(snowman.balanceOf(attacker), 1000); assertEq(snowman.getTokenCounter(), 1000); console2.log(" EXPLOIT SUCCESSFUL - Minted 1K NFTs without authorization"); } } ``` <br /> PoC Results: ```Solidity forge test --match-test testExploit_UnrestrictedMinting -vv [⠑] Compiling... [⠢] Compiling 1 files with Solc 0.8.29 [⠰] Solc 0.8.29 finished in 1.45s Compiler run successful! Ran 1 test for test/SnowmanExploitPoC.t.sol:SnowmanExploitPoC [PASS] testExploit_UnrestrictedMinting() (gas: 26868041) Logs: === UNRESTRICTED MINTING EXPLOIT === Initial token counter: 0 Attacker balance before: 0 Final token counter: 1000 Attacker balance after: 1000 EXPLOIT SUCCESSFUL - Minted 1K NFTs without authorization Suite result: ok. 1 passed; 0 failed; 0 skipped; finished in 4.28ms (3.58ms CPU time) Ran 1 test suite in 10.15ms (4.28ms CPU time): 1 tests passed, 0 failed, 0 skipped (1 total tests) ``` ## Recommended Mitigation Adding the `onlyOwner` modifier restricts the `mintSnowman()` function to only be callable by the contract owner, preventing unauthorized addresses from minting NFTs. ```diff - function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external { + function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external onlyOwner { for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) { _safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter); emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter); s_TokenCounter++; } } ```

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