Soon after Thirdweb revealed a security vulnerability that could impact a variety of common smart contracts used across the Web3 ecosystem, OpenZeppelin identified two specific standards as the root cause of the threat.
On Dec. 4, Thirdweb reported a vulnerability in a commonly used open-source library, which could impact pre-built contracts, including DropERC20, ERC721, ERC1155 (all versions), and AirdropERC20.
IMPORTANT
On November 20th, 2023 6pm PST, we became aware of a security vulnerability in a commonly used open-source library in the web3 industry.
This impacts a variety of smart contracts across the web3 ecosystem, including some of thirdweb’s pre-built smart contracts.…
— thirdweb (@thirdweb) December 5, 2023
In response, smart contracts development platform OpenZepplin and NFT marketplaces Coinbase NFT and OpenSea proactively informed users about the threat. Upon further investigation, OpenZepplin found that the vulnerability stems from “a problematic integration of two specific standards: ERC-2771 and Multicall.”
The smart contract vulnerability in question arises after the integration of ERC-2771 and Multicall standards. OpenZepplin identified 13 sets of vulnerable smart contracts, as shown below. However, crypto service providers are advised to address the issue before bad actors find a way to exploit the vulnerability.
OpenZepplin’s investigation found that the ERC-2771 standard allows the overriding of certain call functions. This could be exploited to extract the sender’s address information and spoof calls on their behalf.
OpenZepplin advised the Web3 community using the aforementioned integrations to use a 4-step method for ensuring safety — disable every trusted forwarder, pause contract and revoke approvals, prepare an upgrade and evaluate snapshot options.
IMPORTANT
On November 20th, 2023 6pm PST, we became aware of a security vulnerability in a commonly used open-source library in the web3 industry.
This impacts a variety of smart contracts across the web3 ecosystem, including some of thirdweb’s pre-built smart contracts.…
— thirdweb (@thirdweb) December 5, 2023
In addition, Thirdweb launched a mitigation tool that allows users to connect their wallets and identify if a contract is vulnerable.
Today the @OpenZeppelin team disclosed details about the @thirdweb vulnerabilities to our team. We’ve identified a few functions in the Relay contracts that could be griefed. As such, we are deactivating Relay until the necessary adjustments can be made.
To be absolutely clear,…
— Velodrome (@VelodromeFi) December 8, 2023
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Velodrome also deactivated its Relay services until a new version is installed.
Related: Coinbase’s Base network gets OpenZeppelin security integration
In a recent Cointelegraph Magazine article, experts revealed how artificial intelligence (AI) can help audit smart contracts and aid cybersecurity efforts.
gm ☕️
As someone with zero Solidity proficiency, I had an already efficient smart contract tailored to my own needs by AI.
I dumped @Azuki‘s smart contract into GPT-4 and had it ask me relevant questions.
Disclaimer: Professional human audits and devs are still important to… pic.twitter.com/K4UGfFC5dp
— SV (@0xSMV) March 16, 2023
James Edwards, the lead maintainer for cybersecurity investigator Librehash, said that while AI chatbots have the ability to develop smart contracts, deploying them in a live environment is risky.
On the other hand, Edwards highlighted the technology’s potential to vet smart contracts. Recent tests showed AI’s ability to “audit contracts with an unprecedented amount of accuracy that far surpasses what one could expect and would receive from GPT-4.”
While he concedes it’s not as good as a human auditor yet, it can already do a strong first pass to speed up the auditor’s work and make it more comprehensive.
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