CVE-2018-13229 in RiptideCoin
Summary
by MITRE
The sell function of a smart contract implementation for RiptideCoin (RIPT), 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-2018-13229 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the sell function of RiptideCoin's smart contract implementation on the Ethereum blockchain. This issue stems from improper input validation and arithmetic operations that fail to account for potential overflow conditions in the token's trading mechanism. The vulnerability specifically affects the calculation of "amount * sellPrice" where the multiplication operation can produce a result of zero due to integer overflow conditions, fundamentally undermining the contract's ability to accurately process token sales and maintain proper asset accounting.
The technical implementation of this flaw occurs within the smart contract's sell function where the developer has not implemented proper overflow checks or boundary validations for the arithmetic operations involved in calculating the sale proceeds. When a seller attempts to exchange their tokens for ether, the contract calculates the expected payout by multiplying the token amount with the current sell price. However, due to the lack of overflow protection, if the multiplication results in a value that exceeds the maximum representable integer value for the data type being used, the result wraps around to zero or another unexpected value. This creates a scenario where sellers receive zero value for their tokens, effectively draining their assets from the contract without proper compensation.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant financial risk for token holders and undermines the fundamental trust in the smart contract's integrity. The impact extends beyond simple financial loss as it demonstrates a critical failure in the contract's core business logic that governs token transactions. The vulnerability allows for potential manipulation where malicious actors could exploit the zero result condition to drain funds from the contract while appearing to execute legitimate transactions. This flaw directly violates the principle of atomicity in smart contract operations and represents a failure in the contract's defensive programming practices.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-190, Integer Overflow or Wraparound, which specifically addresses issues where integer arithmetic operations produce results that exceed the maximum value representable by the data type. Additionally, this flaw intersects with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, Network Denial of Service, as the overflow condition can effectively render the contract unusable for legitimate transactions. The issue also relates to T1548.003, Abuse of Functionality, where the contract's intended functionality is subverted to achieve unintended outcomes. Organizations and developers should implement comprehensive overflow protection mechanisms including explicit bounds checking, use of safe math libraries, and thorough testing of arithmetic operations within smart contracts to prevent such vulnerabilities from compromising financial systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper integer overflow protection mechanisms within the smart contract code. Developers must incorporate explicit overflow checks before arithmetic operations, utilize established safe math libraries such as OpenZeppelin's SafeMath, and implement comprehensive testing procedures including formal verification methods. The contract should validate all input parameters and ensure that multiplication operations do not exceed maximum integer limits. Additionally, proper error handling and transaction rollback mechanisms should be implemented to prevent partial execution of vulnerable operations. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across all smart contract implementations. The fix must also include monitoring and logging capabilities to detect any anomalous transaction patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts of the integer overflow condition.