A Survey of Attacks on Ethereum Smart Contracts SoK
22 Apr 2017-Vol. 10204, pp 164-186
TL;DR: This work analyses the security vulnerabilities of Ethereum smart contracts, providing a taxonomy of common programming pitfalls which may lead to vulnerabilities, and shows a series of attacks which exploit these vulnerabilities, allowing an adversary to steal money or cause other damage.
Abstract: Smart contracts are computer programs that can be correctly executed by a network of mutually distrusting nodes, without the need of an external trusted authority. Since smart contracts handle and transfer assets of considerable value, besides their correct execution it is also crucial that their implementation is secure against attacks which aim at stealing or tampering the assets. We study this problem in Ethereum, the most well-known and used framework for smart contracts so far. We analyse the security vulnerabilities of Ethereum smart contracts, providing a taxonomy of common programming pitfalls which may lead to vulnerabilities. We show a series of attacks which exploit these vulnerabilities, allowing an adversary to steal money or cause other damage.
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TL;DR: This paper introduces an approach to constructing ledger structures for cryptocurrency systems with basic category theory, and admits an intuitive graphical representation through string diagrams for monoidal functors.
Abstract: This paper introduces an approach to constructing ledger structures for cryptocurrency systems with basic category theory. Compositional theories of resource convertibility allow us to express the material history of virtual goods, and ownership is modelled by a free construction. Our notion of ownership admits an intuitive graphical representation through string diagrams for monoidal functors.
2 citations
Cites background from "A Survey of Attacks on Ethereum Sma..."
...This difficulty also manifests in the larger system, which has contributed to several unfortunate incidents involving blockchain technology [2]....
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01 Dec 2021
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors showed that the remaining traces can reveal private information, i.e., how a privatized function can be externally accessed, and discuss how to attack the contract without knowing its application binary interface (ABI).
Abstract: A smart contract is a program that resides its binary code and states in blockchain to provide contract-like functionality. The binary code is unchangeable once it is deployed into the chain. This can ensure the underlying blockchain to be an append-only decentralized and secure database, but it may also bring potential threats. For example, Selfdestruct is a typical command used to disable a smart contract and clean all relevant information. It is believed that if an address of a deactivated contract is inaccessible, it is impossible for an attacker to explore. However, in this work, we identify that instead of erasing or overwriting the previously recorded data, the smart contract’s running environment may store its latest data and states in the latest block even after using Selfdestruct. Motivated by this observation, we show how these remained traces can reveal private information, i.e., how a privatized function can be externally accessed, and discuss how to attack the contract without knowing its application binary interface (ABI). In the end, we also discuss some potential solutions to protect information leakage in such scenario.
2 citations
TL;DR: SuMo as discussed by the authors is a mutation testing approach for assessing the quality of test suites accompanying Smart Contracts written in Solidity, the language used by the Ethereum blockchain, and it is implemented in a proof-of-concept work.
2 citations
TL;DR: Behavioral scales were utilized in analyzing the perspective of informal e-waste colleciton units in using technology for collection activities and created new dimensions in management by opening opportunities that are convenient and easily accessible.
Abstract: Technological advancement and resultant proliferation of electronic dumps has immensely hampered health and environment. Authorities in developed and developing countries, find it difficult to control the exponentially growing e-waste menace and the toxic dangers associated with it. However, internet communications and technologies have transformed the way e-waste management scenario is looked upon. Advanced technologies including cloud computing, Internet of Things and Big Data has created new dimensions in management by opening opportunities that are convenient and easily accessible. These have made management activities including collection, transportation, recycling and reuse of electronic equipments with stakeholders much easier. This paper utilized behavioral scales in analyzing the perspective of informal e-waste colleciton units in using technology forcollection activities.
2 citations
Cites background from "A Survey of Attacks on Ethereum Sma..."
...Smart contracts let mutually distrustful parties [47] in safe transaction without the presence of third parties [48]....
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06 Sep 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that Turing-completeness of a blockchain system can be achieved through unwinding the recursive calls between multiple transactions and blocks instead of using a single one, and prove it by constructing a simple universal Turing machine using a small set of language features in the unspent transaction output (UTXO) model.
Abstract: Turing-completeness of smart contract languages in blockchain systems is often associated with a variety of language features (such as loops). On the contrary, we show that Turing-completeness of a blockchain system can be achieved through unwinding the recursive calls between multiple transactions and blocks instead of using a single one. We prove it by constructing a simple universal Turing machine using a small set of language features in the unspent transaction output (UTXO) model, with explicitly given relations between input and output transaction states. Neither unbounded loops nor possibly infinite validation time are needed in this approach.
2 citations
References
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Abstract: Elementary Techniques.- 1. The Basics.- 2. Functional Programming in HOL.- 3. More Functional Programming.- 4. Presenting Theories.- Logic and Sets.- 5. The Rules of the Game.- 6. Sets, Functions, and Relations.- 7. Inductively Defined Sets.- Advanced Material.- 8. More about Types.- 9. Advanced Simplification, Recursion, and Induction.- 10. Case Study: Verifying a Security Protocol.
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TL;DR: Ethereum as mentioned in this paper is a transactional singleton machine with shared state, which can be seen as a simple application on a decentralised, but singleton, compute resource, and it provides a plurality of resources, each with a distinct state and operating code but able to interact through a message-passing framework with others.
Abstract: The blockchain paradigm when coupled with cryptographically-secured transactions has demonstrated its
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2,755 citations
TL;DR: Protocols with application in important contracting areas, including credit, content rights management, payment systems, and contracts with bearer are discussed.
Abstract: Smart contracts combine protocols with user interfaces to formalize and secure relationships over computer networks. Objectives and principles for the design of these systems are derived from legal principles, economic theory, and theories of reliable and secure protocols. Similarities and differences between smart contracts and traditional business procedures based on written contracts, controls, and static forms are discussed. By using cryptographic and other security mechanisms, we can secure many algorithmically specifiable relationships from breach by principals, and from eavesdropping or malicious interference by third parties, up to considerations of time, user interface, and completeness of the algorithmic specification. This article discusses protocols with application in important contracting areas, including credit, content rights management, payment systems, and contracts with bearer.
1,495 citations
24 Oct 2016
TL;DR: This paper introduces a novel quantitative framework to analyse the security and performance implications of various consensus and network parameters of PoW blockchains and devise optimal adversarial strategies for double-spending and selfish mining while taking into account real world constraints.
Abstract: Proof of Work (PoW) powered blockchains currently account for more than 90% of the total market capitalization of existing digital cryptocurrencies. Although the security provisions of Bitcoin have been thoroughly analysed, the security guarantees of variant (forked) PoW blockchains (which were instantiated with different parameters) have not received much attention in the literature. This opens the question whether existing security analysis of Bitcoin's PoW applies to other implementations which have been instantiated with different consensus and/or network parameters. In this paper, we introduce a novel quantitative framework to analyse the security and performance implications of various consensus and network parameters of PoW blockchains. Based on our framework, we devise optimal adversarial strategies for double-spending and selfish mining while taking into account real world constraints such as network propagation, different block sizes, block generation intervals, information propagation mechanism, and the impact of eclipse attacks. Our framework therefore allows us to capture existing PoW-based deployments as well as PoW blockchain variants that are instantiated with different parameters, and to objectively compare the tradeoffs between their performance and security provisions.
1,258 citations
24 Oct 2016
TL;DR: This paper investigates the security of running smart contracts based on Ethereum in an open distributed network like those of cryptocurrencies, and proposes ways to enhance the operational semantics of Ethereum to make contracts less vulnerable.
Abstract: Cryptocurrencies record transactions in a decentralized data structure called a blockchain. Two of the most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, support the feature to encode rules or scripts for processing transactions. This feature has evolved to give practical shape to the ideas of smart contracts, or full-fledged programs that are run on blockchains. Recently, Ethereum's smart contract system has seen steady adoption, supporting tens of thousands of contracts, holding millions dollars worth of virtual coins. In this paper, we investigate the security of running smart contracts based on Ethereum in an open distributed network like those of cryptocurrencies. We introduce several new security problems in which an adversary can manipulate smart contract execution to gain profit. These bugs suggest subtle gaps in the understanding of the distributed semantics of the underlying platform. As a refinement, we propose ways to enhance the operational semantics of Ethereum to make contracts less vulnerable. For developers writing contracts for the existing Ethereum system, we build a symbolic execution tool called Oyente to find potential security bugs. Among 19, 336 existing Ethereum contracts, Oyente flags 8, 833 of them as vulnerable, including the TheDAO bug which led to a 60 million US dollar loss in June 2016. We also discuss the severity of other attacks for several case studies which have source code available and confirm the attacks (which target only our accounts) in the main Ethereum network.
1,232 citations