Denial of service in Zcash

1) Resource management error

EUVDB-ID: #VU25032

Risk: High

CVSSv3.1: 7.5 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: N/A

CWE-ID: CWE-399 - Resource Management Errors

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to consensus failure in the network in zcashd, that causes nodes to permanently reject blocks based on their timestamps using subjective information. A remote attacker can isolate the node on the network, potentially tricking a miner or mining pool into rejecting a valid chain. An attacker could have strategically exploited this issue to 51% attack some nodes’ view of the chain and perform double-spending attacks.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Zcash: 2.0.0 - 2.1.1

External links

http://electriccoin.co/blog/new-releases-2-1-1-and-hotfix-2-1-1-1/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.