CVE-2018-13483 in mkethToken
Summary
by MITRE
The mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for mkethToken, 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 • 02/27/2020
The vulnerability identified in CVE-2018-13483 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the mintToken function of the mkethToken smart contract implementation on the Ethereum blockchain. This vulnerability stems from improper input validation and arithmetic handling within the contract's code, creating a scenario where the contract owner can manipulate user balances arbitrarily. The flaw specifically manifests when the mintToken function processes token minting operations without adequate overflow checks, allowing malicious or unauthorized actions by the contract owner to alter account balances beyond normal operational parameters.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of integer arithmetic operations within the smart contract's mintToken function. When the contract attempts to increment token balances or perform other arithmetic operations, the lack of proper overflow protection enables the contract owner to craft specific transaction parameters that result in unintended balance modifications. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-190, which describes integer overflow and underflow conditions in software implementations, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for execution through smart contract manipulation. The vulnerability's root cause lies in the absence of proper bounds checking and arithmetic validation mechanisms within the contract's core functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple balance manipulation to potentially compromise the entire token ecosystem and user funds. An attacker with access to the contract owner account can arbitrarily increase or decrease any user's token balance, effectively enabling unauthorized fund transfers, creating artificial scarcity, or completely draining user accounts. This vulnerability undermines the fundamental trust model of decentralized applications and can lead to significant financial losses for users who hold mkethToken. The implications are particularly severe in DeFi contexts where such vulnerabilities can be exploited to manipulate liquidity pools, governance mechanisms, or other critical smart contract functionalities.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of comprehensive input validation and arithmetic overflow protection within the smart contract code. The contract owner must implement proper bounds checking and use libraries such as OpenZeppelin's SafeMath to prevent arithmetic operations from exceeding maximum integer values. Additionally, regular security audits and formal verification processes should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities across all contract functions. The remediation process should include thorough code review to ensure all arithmetic operations within the contract include overflow protection, and the contract should be redeployed with these security measures in place. Organizations should also implement access control mechanisms that limit the privileges of the owner account and consider multi-signature wallets to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to administrative functions.