CVE-2018-13175 in AIChain
Summary
by MITRE
The mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for AIChain, an Ethereum token, has an integer overflow that allows the owner of the contract to set the balance of an arbitrary user to any value.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-13175 resides within the mintToken function of AIChain smart contract implementation on the Ethereum blockchain. This flaw represents a critical integer overflow vulnerability that fundamentally compromises the contract's integrity and token distribution mechanism. The vulnerability allows the contract owner to manipulate user balances arbitrarily, effectively enabling unauthorized token creation and distribution. The integer overflow occurs when the mintToken function processes token minting operations without proper input validation or overflow checks, creating a scenario where mathematical operations can exceed the maximum value representable by the data type, leading to unexpected behavior in the contract's state management.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper boundary checks in the mintToken function implementation. When the owner invokes this function with specific parameters, the integer overflow enables the manipulation of balance storage variables, allowing for arbitrary value assignment to any user account. This flaw directly violates the fundamental principles of smart contract security and can be classified under CWE-190, Integer Overflow or Wraparound, which specifically addresses situations where integer arithmetic operations produce results that exceed the maximum representable value. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the core of the token economy, where the owner's privileged position can be exploited to create unlimited tokens or manipulate existing balances without detection.
Operationally, this vulnerability creates a severe threat to the AIChain token ecosystem and its users. The ability to set arbitrary user balances means that malicious actors with owner privileges can either inflate token supply indefinitely or manipulate specific user accounts to gain unfair advantages. The impact extends beyond simple financial manipulation as it undermines the trust in the entire blockchain-based system, potentially leading to market manipulation, loss of user confidence, and regulatory scrutiny. The vulnerability can be leveraged to create artificial scarcity or abundance of tokens, directly affecting token value and market stability. From an attack perspective, this flaw aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and control through smart contract manipulation, and T1548.001 for privilege escalation by exploiting contract owner permissions to gain unauthorized control over token distribution mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper input validation and integer overflow protection mechanisms within the smart contract code. The mintToken function must incorporate comprehensive boundary checks and use safe arithmetic operations that prevent overflow conditions. Additionally, the contract should implement proper access controls and audit trails to monitor owner activities, ensuring that any balance modifications are logged and validated. The recommended solution involves replacing vulnerable arithmetic operations with libraries or functions that provide overflow protection, such as OpenZeppelin's SafeMath library, which is widely recognized in the Ethereum ecosystem for preventing integer overflow scenarios. Regular security audits and formal verification processes should be implemented to identify similar vulnerabilities in other contract functions, ensuring comprehensive protection against similar threats that could compromise the token economy and user assets.