Securing Web3: Common Blockchain Vulnerabilities and How to Avoid Them

As #blockchain technology continues to expand, security vulnerabilities remain a major concern for blockchain security professionals. A vulnerability refers to any weakness or flaw in the system that can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access, steal funds or execute malicious transactions.

#Web3 security is particularly susceptible to these types of attacks due to the large amounts of money that blockchain handles, and hackers see it as a lucrative target. In this article, we will explore some of the most common vulnerabilities found in web3 security and the steps users and projects can take to avoid them.

Centralization and Privilege

One of the most common vulnerabilities in web3 security is centralization risk. Centralization risk refers to the vulnerabilities that arise from having points of centralization in a project's structure, either in its underlying code or in its team's organization. The centralized nature of web2 created many problems that web3 is trying to resolve, such as phishing attacks that exploit privileged users into giving up sensitive information or downloading malicious programs to their devices.

Privileged access management risk is a common form of centralization risk that exploits users into giving up sensitive information. Projects can protect against this vulnerability by introducing aspects of decentralization into vulnerable areas. For example, projects should require two or more users to authenticate the identity of any privileged user any time they try to access the network. Multisig in wallets provides schemes where 2 of 3 or 3 of 5 signatures are required for successful authentication. Projects should also implement blockchain analytics tools such as CertiK's Skynet, which can monitor any activity on the blockchain and alert project teams of any suspicious activity.

Logical Issues

Logical issues refer to errors in how a line of code functions. For example, a common logical issue is the incorrect setup of how a smart contract logs and records time through the block.timestamp function. Logical errors can encompass a wide range of potential vulnerabilities, from issues with how a token is minted to vulnerabilities in how tokens are traded between accounts.

Reentrancy attacks are common logical issues that can exploit a protocol's funds by repeatedly calling a transaction before the protocol updates its balance. To mitigate logical issue vulnerabilities, project teams should ensure that their code has been audited by a reputable third party and all logical issues have been resolved.

Gas Optimization

Gas optimization finding in a CertiK security audit highlights areas where the gas consumption required in validating a block can be made more efficient. This is a vital finding for project teams to implement as it concerns vulnerabilities a project may encounter as they scale up. As they grow, the gas required to validate transactions may grow so large that new blocks are no longer able to be validated.

Final thoughts...

Blockchain security vulnerabilities are inevitable due to the complexity of blockchain technology, but they can be minimized with proper planning and implementation of security protocols. Centralization and privilege, logical issues, and gas optimization are just some of the most common attack vectors that can be exploited by attackers. However, projects can take steps to mitigate these vulnerabilities, such as pen testing, ensuring their code is audited by reputable third parties, and optimizing gas consumption. By implementing these measures, web3 security can become more resilient and secure in the future.