Snowman Merkle Airdrop

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

Snowman::mintSnowman() lacks access control, allowing any user to mint unlimited Snowman NFTs for free

Root + Impact

Description

## Summary
`Snowman::mintSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount)` in `src/Snowman.sol` is an `external` function without any access control modifier (`onlyOwner`). Any external caller can directly invoke `mintSnowman()` to mint unlimited `Snowman` NFTs for free without owning `Snow` tokens or submitting a valid Merkle proof via `SnowmanAirdrop`.
​
## Vulnerability Details
In `src/Snowman.sol` (lines 35–44), `mintSnowman()` is missing access control:
​
```solidity
// >>> EXTERNAL FUNCTIONS
@> 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++;
}
}
```
​
Even though `Snowman` inherits `Ownable(msg.sender)` and defines `error SM__NotAllowed();`, it never restricts `mintSnowman()` to the contract owner or the `SnowmanAirdrop` contract.
​
## Risk
​
**Likelihood:** High - Any user can call `Snowman::mintSnowman()` directly in a single transaction with zero prerequisites.
​
**Impact:** High - Complete bypass of the `SnowmanAirdrop` Merkle verification and `Snow` token farming/buying requirements, allowing unlimited free NFT minting.
​
## Proof of Concept
Add the following test to `test/TestSnowman.t.sol` to verify that any unauthorized address can mint arbitrary `Snowman` NFTs directly:
​
```solidity
function testUnauthorizedUserCanMintUnlimitedSnowman() public {
address attacker = makeAddr("attacker");
vm.prank(attacker);
nft.mintSnowman(attacker, 100);
​
assertEq(nft.balanceOf(attacker), 100);
assertEq(nft.getTokenCounter(), 100);
}
```
​
## Recommended Mitigation
To fix this vulnerability, restrict `Snowman::mintSnowman()` so that only the authorized `SnowmanAirdrop` contract (or the contract owner via OpenZeppelin's `onlyOwner` modifier) can invoke it. During deployment in `Helper.s.sol`, transfer ownership of the `Snowman` contract to the deployed `SnowmanAirdrop` contract address, or store an explicit `s_airdrop` address and revert with `SM__NotAllowed()` when `msg.sender != s_airdrop`.
​
```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++;
}
}
```

Risk

Likelihood:

Impact:

Proof of Concept

​

Recommended Mitigation

- remove this code
+ add this code
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge 30 minutes 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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