CVE-2018-13532 in Mindexcoin
Summary
by MITRE
The mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for Mindexcoin, 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 as CVE-2018-13532 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the mintToken function of the Mindexcoin Ethereum token smart contract implementation. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and arithmetic overflow handling within the contract's code, specifically affecting the token's minting mechanism. The flaw allows the contract owner to manipulate user balances by setting them to arbitrary values through deliberate overflow conditions. The technical nature of this vulnerability places it squarely within the scope of CWE-190, which categorizes integer overflow conditions as a fundamental class of software security weaknesses. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous in blockchain environments where financial assets are at stake and where the immutable nature of smart contracts makes remediation extremely difficult once deployed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple balance manipulation, as it fundamentally compromises the integrity of the token economy. An attacker with owner privileges can create unlimited tokens or manipulate existing token distributions to their advantage, potentially leading to massive financial losses for other users. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of the token system by allowing unauthorized balance modifications that bypass normal transaction mechanisms. This creates a scenario where the token's supply can be artificially inflated or where specific users can be granted excessive token holdings, undermining the economic model of the cryptocurrency. The vulnerability's exploitation directly violates the principle of least privilege and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and privilege escalation through legitimate system access.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires the contract owner to invoke the mintToken function with carefully crafted parameters that trigger integer overflow conditions. In Ethereum smart contracts, this typically involves manipulating uint256 values to exceed their maximum representable value, causing the arithmetic to wrap around to zero or extremely large values. The vulnerability demonstrates poor defensive programming practices and highlights the importance of implementing proper overflow checks using modern Solidity versions that include built-in overflow protection mechanisms. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and utilize SafeMath libraries or similar mathematical safety measures to prevent such arithmetic overflows. The remediation process involves modifying the smart contract code to include explicit overflow checks and ensuring that all arithmetic operations within the mintToken function properly validate input parameters before execution. Additionally, the vulnerability underscores the necessity of thorough smart contract auditing and formal verification processes to identify and mitigate such critical security flaws before deployment.