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Fundamental Attacks on Ethereum Oracles and How to Prevent Them
KTH, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).
2023 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Many applications and protocols on blockchain platforms are reliant on real-world data which exists outside the blockchain, something which is not directly accessible through these platforms. To bridge this gap, blockchain oracles help these applications and protocols by providing them with this data. As different data used by these applications and protocols can result in different outcomes occurring, one way for attackers to attack these applications and protocols is to attack the oracles they rely on. This thesis investigates what types of fundamental attacks are possible on oracles hosted on Ethereum, potential ways to protect against them and how these attacks can be categorized. It also investigates if the different attributes of Solana or Corda provides any protection against these attacks in some way. In order to answer these questions, the different blockchain platforms are researched and investigated, along with different oracles and attacks on oracles. A framework which describes the different states data in a oracle can be in was also created in order to help find attacks. In total, eleven different fundamental attacks on Ethereum oracles were found along with different methods to protect against them. A majority of these attacks were deemed to be able to be done in full capability by both independent and nation-state attackers. Both Solana and Corda were found to provide some inherent protection against some of these attacks. Solana was found to be able to almost fully eliminate one type of attack due to its execution environment. Corda was found to make many of the found attacks harder to execute for an attacker, mainly due to its lack of anonymity.

Abstract [sv]

Många applikationer och protokoll på blockkedje-plattformar är beroende av verklig data som existerar utanför blockkedjan, något som inte är direkt nåbart genom dessa plattformar. I syfte att göra denna data nåbar, så hjälper orakel på blockkedjor dessa applikationer och protokoll genom att tillhandahålla dem denna data. Eftersom dessa applikationer och protokoll kan ha olika utfall beroende på vilken data de använder sig av, så är en metod att attackera dem genom att attackera dem orakel som de använder sig av. Denna avhandling undersöker vilka typer av fundamentala attacker som är möjliga mot orakel som körs på Ethereum, potentiella sätt att skydda mot attackerna samt hur dessa attacker kan kategoriseras. Den undersöker även ifall de olika attributen som finns hos Solana eller Corda ger något skydd mot dessa attacker på något sätt. För att besvara dessa frågor har de olika blockkedjeplattformarna undersökts. Även olika orakel samt attacker mot orakel har undersökts. Ett ramverk som beskriver de olika tillstånden som data i ett orakel kan befinna sig i skapades med syfte att underlätta hittandet av attacker. Totalt så hittades elva olika fundamentala attacker mot orakel som körs på Ethereum tillsammans med tillhörande skyddsmetoder. Majoriteten av dessa attacker bedömdes kunna genomföras i full förmåga av både självständiga angripare samt nationssponsrade angripare. Både Solana och Corda visade sig ge skydd mot vissa av de elva attackerna genom sina attribut. Solana kan genom sin exekveringsmiljö nästan helt eliminera möjligheten av en av attackerna. Corda visade sig göra flera av de olika attackerna svårare att genomföra för angripare, främst på grund av sin avsaknad av anonymitet i plattformen.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 65
Series
TRITA-EECS-EX ; 2023:777
Keywords [en]
Blockchain, Attacks, Ethereum, Solana, Corda, Oracle
Keywords [sv]
Blockkedja, Attacker, Ethereum, Solana, Corda, Orakel
National Category
Computer Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-340095OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-340095DiVA, id: diva2:1815072
External cooperation
Handelsbanken
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2024-01-17 Created: 2023-11-27 Last updated: 2024-01-17Bibliographically approved

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