The smart-contract audit company CertiK recently received a $500,000 donation from the Sui Foundation in appreciation for their identification of a potentially disastrous attack vector inside the Sui network. A hostile smart contract may exploit the weakness, an infinite loop issue in the Sui code, and cause the network’s nodes to become stuck in an unending loop, thus paralyzing the whole blockchain.
The “HamsterWheel attack,” as it was dubbed by CertiK in a press release on Monday, will continuously engage all nodes, preventing them from processing new transactions, similar to spinning on a hamster wheel, unlike conventional assaults that crash nodes. Such a plan may bring down and shut down whole networks.
The Sui Foundation’s team of developers immediately put into place two crucial steps meant to lessen the possible effect of such problems in the future after identifying the fault. The essential problem solutions, according to CertiK, have already been applied, and a thorough technical report will be released soon.
Darius Goore, Head of Communications at the Sui Foundation, told CoinDesk that he was delighted with the conclusion of the bug bounty program, saying, “We are extremely pleased that the program resulted in finding and fixing this bug well before Sui went live.” He also highlighted the program’s efficacy in combination with comprehensive internal testing and strong third-party audits, noting the Sui mainnet’s successful functioning and security performance throughout the course of its first six weeks.
The discovery of the HamsterWheel assault, according to Kang Li, Chief Security Officer at CertiK, is proof of the constantly changing complexity of attacks facing blockchain networks. Li stressed in a written statement the need of anticipatorily detecting and resolving vulnerabilities to maintain the security and stability of such networks.
The Sui Foundation’s acknowledgement of CertiK’s help emphasizes the value of thorough security precautions and collaborations with knowledgeable auditors in the blockchain sector. Organizations must employ strong security procedures to protect the integrity of their networks as technology develops and stay watchful against new threats.
