Signature Malleability

Signature malleability detection

When this applies

Trigger on any of:

• Direct ecrecover(hash, v, r, s) calls (not via OpenZeppelin ECDSA.recover)
• Manual (r, s, v) decoding from a bytes signature with assembly
• Permit / meta-tx / order-book / claim flows that verify a signed digest
• Signatures used as nonces or dedup keys (e.g. usedSig[sig] = true)
• EIP-712 typed-data verification, or its absence where one is needed

Detection patterns

Missing low-s enforcement / malleable sig (HIGH if sig is a key)

address signer = ecrecover(hash, v, r, s);   // no s-range check
require(signer == expected);
usedSignature[keccak256(abi.encode(r,s,v))] = true;  // ← dedup keyed on sig bytes

Signal: for any valid (r,s,v) the "flipped" signature (r, n - s, v ^ 1) recovers the same signer (the classic Bitcoin/Ethereum transaction-malleability class). If the signature itself is the replay key, an attacker submits the twin and bypasses dedup. Enforce s <= secp256k1n/2 (EIP-2).

Unchecked ecrecover returning address(0) (HIGH)

address signer = ecrecover(hash, v, r, s);
require(signer == owner);  // if owner could ever be address(0)... or no check at all

Signal: malformed inputs make ecrecover return address(0). Any code path where the compared-against value can be address(0) (uninitialized mapping slot, default) authenticates an attacker with garbage. Always require(signer != address(0)).

Unconstrained v (MEDIUM)

Accepting arbitrary v (not 27/28) or trusting a caller-supplied v for EIP-2098 compact sigs, mixing the 64-byte and 65-byte formats. EIP-2098 packs yParity into the high bit of s; decoding it as a raw 65-byte sig corrupts recovery.

Cross-domain / cross-chain replay (HIGH)

bytes32 digest = keccak256(abi.encode(ORDER_TYPEHASH, maker, amount, nonce));

Signal: no EIP-712 domain separator binding chainId and verifyingContract. A signature is replayable on another chain (post-fork) or a sibling deployment. Build the digest with _hashTypedDataV4 (\x19\x01 + domainSeparator + structHash) and recompute the domain separator if block.chainid changes.

Signature reuse / no nonce (HIGH)

Same digest accepted twice because there's no per-signer nonce or no marking of consumed digests — meta-tx and claim flows drain repeatedly.

Severity rubric

| Pattern | Severity | Notes | |---|---|---| | Malleable sig used as replay/dedup key | High | Twin sig bypasses guard | | ecrecover==address(0) authenticates attacker | High | Auth bypass | | Missing EIP-712 domain → cross-chain replay | High | Signature reuse across deployments | | No nonce → straight replay | High | Repeated execution | | Unconstrained v / EIP-2098 confusion | Medium | Format-dependent | | Low-s missing but sig never used as a key | Low | Defense-in-depth |

Remediation patterns

1. Use OpenZeppelin ECDSA.recover — it enforces s <= secp256k1n/2, rejects bad v, and reverts on address(0) (it also handles EIP-2098).
2. Bind digests with EIP-712 (EIP712 base + _hashTypedDataV4), including chainId and verifyingContract; recompute the domain separator on chainid change.
3. Use per-signer nonces (incrementing) rather than signature-bytes dedup; consume by (signer, nonce) not (r,s,v).
4. Explicit require(signer != address(0)) even when using libraries, for any hand-rolled path.
5. Prefer SignatureChecker when signers may be ERC-1271 contract wallets.

False-positive notes

• Code already routing through OpenZeppelin ECDSA/SignatureChecker with EIP-712 and nonces is safe — don't re-flag the underlying ecrecover.
• A sig verified against a non-zero, always-set signer where the digest is never reused is malleability-tolerant; note, don't escalate.

Related

• [[signature-replay]] — nonce/chainId replay is the sibling concern
• [[erc1271-contract-signatures]] — smart-wallet signers need isValidSignature
• [[permit2-patterns]] — Permit2 / EIP-2612 digests and nonces

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: omermaksutii
• Source: omermaksutii/RugProof
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://omermaksutii.github.io/RugProof

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.