CVE-2018-19167 in CloakCoin
Summary
by MITRE
CloakCoin through 2.2.2.0 (a chain-based proof-of-stake cryptocurrency) allows a remote denial of service, exploitable by an attacker who acquires even a small amount of stake/coins in the system. The attacker sends invalid headers/blocks, which are stored on the victim's disk.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/04/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-19167 affects CloakCoin version 2.2.2.0, a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency operating on a chain-based consensus mechanism. This represents a significant denial of service weakness that undermines the network's reliability and operational integrity. The flaw specifically targets the blockchain's header and block validation processes, creating a scenario where malicious actors can exploit the system's trust model to disrupt normal operations. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by its accessibility, as attackers need only acquire minimal stake holdings to execute successful attacks against the network.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of incoming block headers and blockchain data within the CloakCoin client software. When an attacker with even small amounts of cryptocurrency stake sends malformed or invalid headers and blocks to network nodes, these invalid data structures are accepted and stored on the victim's disk without proper verification mechanisms. This behavior violates fundamental principles of blockchain security where nodes should maintain strict validation protocols to prevent malicious data propagation. The flaw creates a persistent storage issue where invalid data accumulates on victim nodes, consuming disk space and potentially causing system instability. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, "Improper Input Validation," and represents a classic example of how insufficient data sanitization can create persistent denial of service conditions in distributed systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-19167 extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass broader network health degradation. Victim nodes experiencing this vulnerability face increasing storage consumption as invalid blocks accumulate, potentially leading to complete disk exhaustion and node failure. Network participants may observe reduced performance, increased latency, and potential network partitioning effects as compromised nodes become unreliable. The attack's low barrier to entry makes it particularly concerning for cryptocurrency networks where stake distribution is relatively accessible. This vulnerability affects the core consensus mechanism by allowing malicious actors to manipulate the blockchain's integrity through resource exhaustion attacks, which can ultimately undermine the trust model that proof-of-stake systems rely upon for network security.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of enhanced input validation and rate limiting mechanisms within CloakCoin client software. Network operators should deploy automated monitoring systems to detect unusual disk space consumption patterns and implement automatic cleanup procedures for invalid data structures. The fix should include mandatory validation of block headers before storage, with rejection of malformed data at the network layer rather than allowing storage of potentially malicious inputs. Additionally, implementing stake-based rate limiting could prevent attackers from overwhelming nodes through small stake holdings. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1499.004, "Endpoint Denial of Service," and represents a specific implementation weakness that could be exploited as part of broader network disruption campaigns. Regular software updates and patches should be enforced across all network participants to prevent exploitation, with particular attention to validating stake distribution mechanisms that could enable this class of attack.