Discovery overview
Pirate Chain was contacted in early June by a security researcher regarding a security issue identified during an investigation using security-enabled AI. The security researcher, Antics Decoded, discovered a medium-level networking issue while doing an investigation of the Pirate Chain code.
Issue now fixed in 5.9.3
The issue pointed out a possible remote node denial of service attack vector against synchronized production nodes. This issue has now been fixed in the PirateNetwork Version 5.9.3 Signed Release.
Komodo chains affected
The security issue affected all Komodo-based chains, including Komodo, Komodo Classic, and Pirate Chain. The code lineage of Pirate Chain includes Bitcoin, Zcash, and Komodo with full zero-knowledge proof privacy enabled using zk-SNARKs to create Pirate Chain.
The issue was first alerted to Pirate Chain, and Pirate Chain notified Komodo and Komodo Classic and coordinated fixes and responses. Komodo developer Decker also issued a blog post regarding the security issue fix.
Pirate Chain's fix
Developer Oswald analysed the security issue alerted to Pirate Chain by the security researcher and coordinated a response. Lead developer Forge implemented Pirate Chain's fix in 5.9.3 and coordinated with Komodo and Komodo Classic teams.
Reporting security vulnerabilities
For reporting potential vulnerabilities for Pirate Chain, please contact [email protected] privately. Please submit documentation regarding the potential vulnerability, and if applicable, create a proof of concept before contacting Pirate Chain regarding security issues. (Please do not submit blind responses from AI that you cannot explain or defend on your own.)
Testing makes us stronger
As an open-source community project, testing Pirate Chain and alerting us to potential security vulnerabilities is welcome. Knowledgeably using AI technology to help find various possible vulnerabilities and attack vectors makes Pirate Chain technology stronger and more resilient for the future.
Article credits
☑️ AmyV ☑️ QuirkyRobots