Offchain Labs has shared the revelation of two essential security vulnerabilities found in the fraud-proof systems of Optimism’s OP Stack.

A prominent firm specializing in blockchain R&D Offchain Labs reported the detection of two significant security vulnerabilities on the Optimism testnet. These findings were immediately communicated to the OP Labs , the team responsible for this development, on March 22nd. The vulnerabilities were identified in the fraud-proof system that OP Labs had instituted for Optimism.

Offchain Labs also provided OP Labs with a demonstration exploit script to facilitate a clearer understanding of these identified security issues. By March 25th, OP Labs had confirmed the existence of these weaknesses and arranged for the vulnerabilities to be reported in collaboration with Offchain Labs.

According to their mutual agreement, Offchain Labs was obligated to keep the discovery of the vulnerabilities confidential until they were addressed. The Optimism testnet received an update on April 25th, which allowed for the public disclosure of the vulnerabilities for the first time today.

These vulnerabilities allowed malicious actors to manipulate Optimism’s fraud-proof mechanism, making it possible for the system to accept incorrect chain data or to deny legitimate chain information. The root of the problem originated from flaws in the design of OP Stack’s fraud-proof mechanism concerning timer management, resulting in a failure to enhance security assurances compared to protocols relying solely on reactive measures by the security council. OP Stack Offchain Labs Highlights Timer Challenges in Fraud-Proof Mechanism Design

Offchain Labs pointed out that timers are among the most complex elements in the design of fraud-proof mechanisms. During a challenge game, an adversarial participant might choose to remain inactive, at which point the protocol must declare a timeout for the unresponsive player. This time lag poses a dilemma for the protocol to determine if the player is truly facing censorship or if they are merely a bad actor feigning censorship. Consequently, the protocol must find a balance that allows honest players sufficient flexibility to avoid losses due to censorship while preventing dishonest players from exploiting time delays.

In the context of Optimism, which involves many participants, managing time credits is particularly tricky.

The initial rollout of the OP protocol on the testnet proved vulnerable to traitor attacks because it allowed a deceiver to improperly earn time credits. Such vulnerabilities could enable a malicious individual to win a fraud-proof game they should have lost, potentially leading to the acceptance of an incorrect chain history or the unjust rejection of a valid chain.

Optimism functions as a Layer 2 blockchain built on top of the Ethereum network, leveraging the security features of Ethereum's mainnet to enhance scalability within the Ethereum ecosystem through optimistic rollups. The OP Stack comprises the software suite that powers Optimism, which currently supports OP Mainnet and is set to evolve into the Optimism Superchain alongside its governance framework. It's intended as a public resource designed to benefit both the Ethereum and Optimism ecosystems.

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