CVE-2018-13725 in GlobalSuperGameToken
Summary
by MITRE
The mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for GlobalSuperGameToken, 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 • 02/28/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-13725 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within the mintToken function of the GlobalSuperGameToken smart contract deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. This vulnerability stems from improper input validation and arithmetic operations that fail to account for the maximum limits of integer data types. The flaw allows the contract owner to manipulate token balances in ways that were never intended by the original design, creating a fundamental security risk that affects the entire token ecosystem.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when the mintToken function processes user inputs without proper overflow checks. In Ethereum smart contracts, integer overflows can occur when arithmetic operations exceed the maximum value that can be stored in a given data type. The GlobalSuperGameToken contract fails to validate the parameters passed to the mintToken function, enabling an attacker with owner privileges to craft malicious inputs that cause the integer arithmetic to wrap around to unexpected values. This behavior aligns with CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow and underflow conditions in software implementations. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it grants the contract owner the ability to manipulate any user's token balance to arbitrary values, effectively allowing for unlimited token creation or balance manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple balance manipulation to encompass potential financial loss and system integrity compromise. An attacker with owner access can increase any user's token balance to extremely high values, potentially enabling them to drain the contract's token supply or create artificial scarcity. The vulnerability also undermines the trust model inherent in blockchain systems, as users cannot rely on their token balances being accurate or tamper-proof. This type of flaw can be leveraged for various malicious activities including but not limited to account manipulation, token theft, and potential denial of service attacks against legitimate users. The vulnerability creates a direct pathway for privilege escalation and can be exploited to gain control over significant token holdings within the ecosystem.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper integer overflow protections within the smart contract code. The most effective approach involves implementing comprehensive input validation and using safe arithmetic operations that check for overflow conditions before performing calculations. Developers should employ established patterns such as using require statements with appropriate bounds checking or utilizing libraries that provide overflow-safe arithmetic operations. Additionally, the contract owner should implement proper access controls and consider using multi-signature wallets for critical operations to reduce the risk of unauthorized exploitation. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices for blockchain applications and aligns with ATT&CK framework techniques related to privilege escalation and resource hijacking. Regular security audits and formal verification of smart contract code should become standard practice to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future implementations.