Publication Details

CoinWatch: A Clone-Based Approach for Detecting Vulnerabilities in Cryptocurrencies

HUM, Q.; TAN, W.; TEY, S.; LENUS, L.; HOMOLIAK, I.; LIN, Y.; SUN, J. CoinWatch: A Clone-Based Approach for Detecting Vulnerabilities in Cryptocurrencies. In 3rd IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BLOCKCHAIN (BLOCKCHAIN 2020). Rhodos: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2020. p. 17-25. ISBN: 978-0-7381-0495-9.
Czech title
CoinWatch: Klonový přístup k detekci chyb zabezpečení v kryptoměnách
Type
conference paper
Language
English
Authors
HUM, Q.
TAN, W.
TEY, S.
LENUS, L.
Homoliak Ivan, doc. Ing., Ph.D. (DITS)
LIN, Y.
SUN, J.
URL
Keywords

clone detection, cryptocurrencies, security, vulnerability propagation

Abstract

Cryptocurrencies have become very popular in recent years. Thousands of new cryptocurrencies have emerged, proposing new and novel techniques that improve on Bitcoin's core innovation of the blockchain data structure and consensus mechanism. However, cryptocurrencies are a major target for cyber-attacks, as they can be sold on exchanges anonymously and most cryptocurrencies have their codebases publicly available. One particular issue is the prevalence of code clones in cryptocurrencies, which may amplify security threats. If a vulnerability is found in one cryptocurrency, it might be propagated into other cloned cryptocurrencies. In this work, we propose a systematic remedy to this problem, and we propose CoinWatch (CW). Given a reported vulnerability at the input, CW uses the code evolution analysis and a clone detection technique for indication of cryptocurrencies that might be vulnerable. We applied CW on 1094 cryptocurrencies using 4 CVEs and obtained 786 true vulnerabilities present in 384 projects, which were confirmed with developers and successfully reported as CVE extensions.

Published
2020
Pages
17–25
Proceedings
3rd IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BLOCKCHAIN (BLOCKCHAIN 2020)
ISBN
978-0-7381-0495-9
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Place
Rhodos
DOI
10.1109/Blockchain50366.2020.00011
UT WoS
000647642100003
EID Scopus
2-s2.0-85099187822
BibTeX 
@inproceedings{BUT168144,
  author="HUM, Q. and TAN, W. and TEY, S. and LENUS, L. and HOMOLIAK, I. and LIN, Y. and SUN, J.",
  title="CoinWatch: A Clone-Based Approach for Detecting Vulnerabilities in Cryptocurrencies",
  booktitle="3rd IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BLOCKCHAIN (BLOCKCHAIN 2020)",
  year="2020",
  pages="17--25",
  publisher="Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",
  address="Rhodos",
  doi="10.1109/Blockchain50366.2020.00011",
  isbn="978-0-7381-0495-9",
  url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/Blockchain50366.2020.00011"
}
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