CVE-2018-13576 in Escut
Summary
by MITRE
The mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for Escut (ESCT) (Contract Name: JuntsPerCreixer), 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-2018-13576 resides within the mintToken function of the Escut (ESCT) token smart contract implementation known as JuntsPerCreixer on the Ethereum blockchain. This flaw represents a critical integer overflow vulnerability that fundamentally compromises the contract's integrity and financial security. The vulnerability manifests when the mintToken function processes token minting operations, allowing the contract owner to manipulate user balances beyond normal operational parameters. The integer overflow occurs due to insufficient input validation and overflow checking mechanisms within the contract's code, creating a scenario where arithmetic operations can exceed the maximum value that can be stored in the designated data types. This vulnerability directly violates the fundamental principles of secure smart contract development as outlined in the CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) catalog under CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow conditions that can lead to unexpected behavior and security breaches.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple financial manipulation, as it provides the contract owner with unprecedented control over the token distribution and user account balances. An attacker with owner privileges can arbitrarily set any user's balance to any value, including potentially infinite amounts, effectively allowing for unlimited token generation and distribution. This capability creates a complete breakdown of the token economy and undermines the trust that users place in the smart contract system. The vulnerability enables scenarios where the owner could inflate balances of specific addresses, manipulate token supply calculations, or even create artificial scarcity by controlling user holdings. Such manipulation directly impacts the token's utility, market value, and the overall integrity of the decentralized application ecosystem. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and resource exhaustion, as it allows for unauthorized control over critical financial resources within the smart contract environment.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention and comprehensive code review of the affected smart contract. The primary remediation involves implementing proper integer overflow protection mechanisms using modern Solidity practices such as utilizing SafeMath libraries or enabling compiler overflow checks. The mintToken function must include explicit validation checks to prevent arithmetic operations from exceeding maximum data type limits, ensuring that all balance updates are properly bounded and validated. Contract owners should implement comprehensive access control measures and consider using multi-signature wallets for critical operations to reduce the risk of unauthorized manipulation. Additionally, regular security audits and formal verification processes should be integrated into the development lifecycle to identify similar vulnerabilities before deployment. The vulnerability highlights the importance of adhering to established security standards and best practices within the Ethereum ecosystem, particularly in relation to the OpenZeppelin security guidelines and the Ethereum Smart Contract Best Practices recommendations. Organizations should also implement continuous monitoring systems to detect anomalous balance changes and unauthorized minting operations that could indicate exploitation of similar vulnerabilities.