bitcoin-dev

Combined summary - Analysis of Replacement Cycling Attacks Risks on L2s (beyond LN)

Combined summary - Analysis of Replacement Cycling Attacks Risks on L2s (beyond LN)

The inquiry revolves around the operational and security implications for coinswap, as highlighted in the development documentation available on GitHub.

The concerns raised pertain to vulnerabilities within the coinswap mechanism that might expose it to risks similar to those faced by other Bitcoin applications and protocols, particularly focusing on replacement cycling attacks and the potential for denial-of-service (DoS) and loss of funds.

Coinswap's susceptibility to a form of attack known as replacement cycling is at the core of these concerns. This type of attack involves delaying transaction confirmations through a sequence of replacement transactions, which could potentially enable an attacker to double-spend a hash time-locked contract (HTLC) preimage. The discussion extends to a broader examination of Bitcoin use cases vulnerable to such attacks, including coinjoins and lightning networks. These vulnerabilities arise from characteristics inherent to multi-party transactions and contracting protocols, such as shared UTXO spendings and pre-signed transactions executed under absolute or relative timelocks.

Moreover, the dialogue delves into the intricacies of how transaction-relay and mempool mechanisms can be manipulated to launch a time-value DoS attack, targeting specific applications or protocols to disrupt services or waste the on-chain time value of coins. Despite existing anti-DoS measures, such as those implemented in the lightning network, the risk of fund loss due to interrupted transaction confirmations remains a critical concern.

The analysis further explores the ramifications of mempool policy changes on the security models of various second-layer solutions and Bitcoin applications, including Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), coinjoins, payjoins, and submarine swaps, among others. These applications are identified as being at risk of suffering from either financial losses or time-value DoS under certain conditions.

In summary, the vulnerability of Bitcoin applications and protocols to transaction-relay jamming presents significant challenges to both their security and functionality. The potential for financial losses and the undermining of service reliability underscores the need for a thorough understanding and mitigation of these vulnerabilities within the decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem. The complexities involved in addressing these issues highlight the difficulties in developing and implementing effective mitigation strategies across diverse codebases and user configurations.

Discussion History

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Antoine RiardOriginal Post
May 17, 2024 03:30 UTC
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May 23, 2024 10:05 UTC
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May 24, 2024 23:54 UTC