CVE-2018-13571 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This CVE involves a vulnerability in the smart contract implementation for GoramCoin, an Ethereum token, allowing the contract owner to manipulate user balances through an integer overflow.

Understanding CVE-2018-13571

This vulnerability was made public on July 8, 2018, and poses a risk to the integrity of the GoramCoin token system.

What is CVE-2018-13571?

The mintToken function in the GoramCoin smart contract has an integer overflow issue, enabling the contract owner to alter user balances at will.

The Impact of CVE-2018-13571

The vulnerability permits unauthorized balance manipulation, potentially leading to financial losses and undermining the trust in the token system.

Technical Details of CVE-2018-13571

This section delves into the specifics of the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The mintToken function's integer overflow in GoramCoin's smart contract allows the contract owner to set any user's balance to a desired value.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: N/A
Vendor: N/A
Versions: N/A

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability is exploited through the mintToken function, enabling the contract owner to arbitrarily adjust user balances.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protective measures to address and prevent the exploitation of this vulnerability.

Immediate Steps to Take

Disable the mintToken function temporarily if possible.
Monitor and audit user balances for any suspicious activity.
Communicate with users about the potential risk and advise caution.

Long-Term Security Practices

Implement secure coding practices to prevent integer overflow vulnerabilities.
Conduct regular security audits and code reviews to identify and address potential weaknesses.
Educate developers on secure smart contract development practices.

Patching and Updates

Collaborate with the smart contract developer to release a patched version addressing the integer overflow issue.
Ensure all users update to the patched version to mitigate the vulnerability.