The Bitcoin Proof-of-Work algorithm does not consider a certain attack methodology related to 80-byte block headers with a variety of initial 64-byte chunks followed by the same 16-byte chunk, multiple candidate root values ending with the same 4 bytes, and calculations involving sqrt numbers
Published May 24, 2017
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 3.25%
Description
The Bitcoin Proof-of-Work algorithm does not consider a certain attack methodology related to 80-byte block headers with a variety of initial 64-byte chunks followed by the same 16-byte chunk, multiple candidate root values ending with the same 4 bytes, and calculations involving sqrt numbers. This violates the security assumptions of (1) the choice of input, outside of the dedicated nonce area, fed into the Proof-of-Work function should not change its difficulty to evaluate and (2) every Proof-of-Work function execution should be independent. NOTE: a number of persons feel that this methodology is a benign mining optimization, not a vulnerability
Affected products
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
CISA SSVC (Vulnrichment)
Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization from CISA ADP.
Exploitation
NoneAutomatable
YesTechnical Impact
PartialDecision
n/aAssessed Apr 23, 2024 · SSVC 2.0.3
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
Table of values (11 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 3.25% (0.03251) | 87.90th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 3.25% (0.03251) | 86.67th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.71% (0.00708) | 70.51th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.53% (0.00532) | 77.88th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.53% (0.00532) | 76.40th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Sep 3, 2023 | 0.53% (0.00532) | 74.17th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.54% (0.00541) | 73.80th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.84% (0.02839) | 83.14th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.76% (0.02762) | 62.80th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 2.89% (0.02888) | 63.67th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 2.89% (0.02888) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (7)
- http://www.mit.edu/~jlrubin//public/pdfs/Asicboost.pdf x_refsource_MISCTechnical Description
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98657 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdf x_refsource_MISCTechnical Description
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/013996.html x_refsource_MISCMailing ListTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014349.html x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014351.html x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014352.html x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://www.mit.edu/~jlrubin//public/pdfs/Asicboost.pdf | x_refsource_MISCTechnical Description | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98657 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdf | x_refsource_MISCTechnical Description | |
| https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/013996.html | x_refsource_MISCMailing ListTechnical DescriptionThird Party Advisory | |
| https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014349.html | x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014351.html | x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014352.html | x_refsource_MISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.