CVE-2018-19151 in qtum
Summary
by MITRE
qtum through 0.16 (a chain-based proof-of-stake cryptocurrency) allows a remote denial of service. The attacker sends invalid headers/blocks. The attack requires no stake and can fill the victim's disk and RAM.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/29/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-19151 represents a critical denial of service weakness in Qtum versions prior to 0.16, a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency built on blockchain technology. This flaw enables remote attackers to exploit the network by transmitting malformed headers and blocks that appear valid but contain critical inconsistencies. The vulnerability operates at the network layer of the blockchain protocol, specifically targeting the block validation and propagation mechanisms that govern how new transactions and blocks are processed and distributed across the peer-to-peer network.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation checks within the Qtum client software's block processing pipeline. When a malicious actor sends invalid headers or blocks to a victim node, the system attempts to process these malformed elements without proper verification mechanisms. This weakness allows the attacker to consume excessive computational resources and storage space, effectively creating a resource exhaustion attack that can render the targeted node unusable. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it requires no stake or cryptographic proof of ownership to execute, making it accessible to any network participant regardless of their investment in the cryptocurrency. The attack can simultaneously fill both disk storage and RAM resources, causing the victim node to crash or become unresponsive.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to the stability and reliability of the Qtum network. Network participants who operate full nodes become vulnerable targets for attackers seeking to disrupt service availability or perform network-level attacks. The resource consumption pattern of this attack can lead to cascading failures where multiple nodes become compromised, potentially affecting the overall network consensus mechanism and transaction processing capabilities. The attack's ability to fill disk space and RAM simultaneously creates a dual threat that can quickly overwhelm even well-resourced nodes, making it particularly effective against smaller operators or those with limited infrastructure capacity.
The attack vector aligns with several tactics described in the ATT&CK framework under the denial of service category, specifically targeting system resources and network availability. This vulnerability demonstrates a weakness in the input validation controls that should be implemented at multiple layers of the blockchain protocol stack. Organizations should implement robust filtering mechanisms and rate limiting to prevent malformed blocks from being processed. The CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) classification for this vulnerability would fall under CWE-129, Input Validation, as the system fails to properly validate incoming data before processing. Mitigation strategies include upgrading to Qtum version 0.16 or later, implementing network-level filtering of suspicious blocks, and establishing resource monitoring systems to detect abnormal consumption patterns. Additionally, network operators should consider implementing automated node failover mechanisms and distributed validation protocols to reduce the impact of such attacks on overall network availability.