CVE-2018-13199 in ETHEREUMBLACK
Summary
by MITRE
The sell function of a smart contract implementation for ETHEREUMBLACK (ETCBK), an Ethereum token, has an integer overflow in which "amount * sellPrice" can be zero, consequently reducing a seller's assets.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2020
The vulnerability identified in CVE-2018-13199 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the sell function of the EthereumBLACK (ETCBK) token smart contract implementation. This vulnerability stems from improper input validation and arithmetic operations that fail to account for potential overflow conditions during token transactions. The flaw specifically manifests when the product of amount and sellPrice calculations results in zero, which fundamentally undermines the economic integrity of the token's trading mechanism.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the smart contract's arithmetic operations where the multiplication of token amount and sellPrice variables does not include proper overflow checking mechanisms. When these values are multiplied together, the result can exceed the maximum representable value for the data type being used, causing the calculation to wrap around and produce an incorrect zero result. This condition directly affects the seller's asset balance calculation and transaction processing within the Ethereum blockchain environment.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for token holders and investors who may experience unauthorized loss of assets during sell transactions. The zero result from the multiplication operation effectively nullifies the seller's proceeds from token sales, leading to potential financial losses and undermining trust in the token's marketplace functionality. The vulnerability also exposes the smart contract to potential manipulation by malicious actors who could exploit this condition to drain assets or disrupt normal trading operations.
The impact of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow and underflow conditions in software implementations. This classification indicates that the flaw represents a fundamental issue in how integer arithmetic operations are handled within the smart contract code, particularly in the context of blockchain-based token economics. The vulnerability also demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1499, which involves data manipulation and financial loss through exploitation of system weaknesses, as the flaw directly enables unauthorized asset reduction through transaction manipulation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of comprehensive input validation and arithmetic overflow protection mechanisms within the smart contract code. Developers should implement explicit checks to validate multiplication operations and ensure that calculated values remain within acceptable ranges before processing transactions. Additionally, the smart contract should incorporate proper error handling and revert mechanisms when overflow conditions are detected, preventing invalid transactions from completing. Regular security auditing and formal verification of smart contract code should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in production environments.