Vulnerability Description
The Bitcoin Proof-of-Work algorithm does not consider a certain attack methodology related to 80-byte block headers with a variety of initial 64-byte chunks followed by the same 16-byte chunk, multiple candidate root values ending with the same 4 bytes, and calculations involving sqrt numbers. This violates the security assumptions of (1) the choice of input, outside of the dedicated nonce area, fed into the Proof-of-Work function should not change its difficulty to evaluate and (2) every Proof-of-Work function execution should be independent. NOTE: a number of persons feel that this methodology is a benign mining optimization, not a vulnerability
CVSS Score
HIGH
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | Bitcoin | - |
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
References
- http://www.mit.edu/~jlrubin//public/pdfs/Asicboost.pdfTechnical Description
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98657Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdfTechnical Description
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/013996.htmlMailing ListTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014349.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014351.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014352.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.mit.edu/~jlrubin//public/pdfs/Asicboost.pdfTechnical Description
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98657Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdfTechnical Description
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/013996.htmlMailing ListTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014349.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014351.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014352.htmlMailing ListThird Party Advisory
FAQ
What is CVE-2017-9230?
CVE-2017-9230 is a vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). The Bitcoin Proof-of-Work algorithm does not consider a certain attack methodology related to 80-byte block headers with a variety of initial 64-byte chunks followed by the same 16-byte chunk, multipl...
How severe is CVE-2017-9230?
CVE-2017-9230 has been rated HIGH with a CVSS base score of 7.5/10. Review the CVSS metrics above for detailed severity breakdown.
Is there a patch for CVE-2017-9230?
Check the references section above for vendor advisories and patch information. Affected products include: Bitcoin Bitcoin.