Denial of Service Vulnerability in Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake Consensus Protocol
CVE-2021-42766

9.1CRITICAL

Key Information:

Vendor

Proof-of-stake Ethereum Project

Status
Proof-of-stake Ethereum
Vendor
CVE Published:
20 October 2021

What is CVE-2021-42766?

The Ethereum Proof-of-Stake consensus protocol, prior to October 19, 2021, is susceptible to a denial of service attack. An attacker can exploit long-range consensus chain reorganizations, which allows them to disrupt network operations even with minimal stake. This vulnerability poses risks such as potential protocol stalls and may inadvertently benefit certain validators by increasing their profits at the expense of network stability.

References

https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.10086
x_refsource_MISC

CVSS V3.1

Score:
9.1
Severity:
CRITICAL
Confidentiality:
None
Integrity:
High
Availability:
None
Attack Vector:
Network
Attack Complexity:
Low
Privileges Required:
None
User Interaction:
None
Scope:
Unchanged

Timeline

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

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CVE-2021-42766 : Denial of Service Vulnerability in Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake Consensus Protocol