EOS EVM Contract Drain Vulnerability

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EOS.io Logo

A critical vulnerability was uncovered and resolved in the EOS EVM before it could be exploited. The vulnerability, if exploited, would have allowed draining all contracts storing EOS across the trustless bridge.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About EOS Blockchain

"EOS is a platform that uses the blockchain technology for the development of decentralized applications (dapps), very similar to Ethereum in function. As a matter of fact, supporters have dubbed it as the “Ethereum killer”. By providing an operating-system-like set of services and features that dapps can make use of, it makes dapp development very easy."

"EOSIO is a highly performant open-source blockchain platform, built to support and operate safe, compliant, and predictable digital infrastructures." "EOSIO is a leading open-source software for blockchain innovation and performance. As one of the most performant, customizable, and secure blockchains available, it offers industry-leading speed, scalability, configurability, and the latest security standards." "Block.one is also the originator of EOSIO, the leading open-source blockchain software that provides developers and businesses with the tools to build the infrastructure of tomorrow."

"The security vulnerability is related to the state objects tracking the reserved addresses of the trustless bridge and how they were not properly being undone in the case of an EVM execution context being reverted. If exploited, it could potentially allow an attacker to illegitimately drain all of the EOS stored by the EOS EVM Contract across the trustless bridge."

"The EOS Network Foundation tweeted that the EOS EVM has released version v0.4.2, which fixes a serious security vulnerability found in the EOS EVM. The EOS EVM contracts, EOS EVM nodes, and EOS EVM RPC components implemented by the EOS mainnet all need to be upgraded."

"The EOS EVM Contract, EOS EVM Node, and EOS EVM RPC for the EOS mainnet implementation have already been patched prior to this public release."

"The fix to the security vulnerability is technically a breaking change to EOS EVM. However, the vulnerability does not appear to have been exploited on either the EOS EVM testnet or mainnet. Therefore, it becomes possible to treat the fix as simpler retroactive change of the EVM."

"Upgrading EOS EVM Contract from v0.4.1 simply requires a setcode of the v0.4.2 contract. There are no changes to the ABI."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - EOS EVM Contract Drain Vulnerability

Date	Event	Description
May 15th, 2023 7:07:00 PM MDT	Upgrade Available	The upgrage to the EVM is made available on Twitter.
May 16th, 2023	Included In SlowMist	The vulnerability is included as an exploit on the SlowMist website.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

No funds were lost.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.