Summary

The contract relies on block.timestamp for critical time-based logic, such as determining when a new president can be selected. While block.timestamp is generally reliable, miners have limited ability to manipulate it within certain bounds. This could potentially allow a miner to influence the timing of elections slightly, although the impact is minimal.

Vulnerability Details

• Affected Function: selectPresident

• Issue Explanation:

  • Use of block.timestamp:

    if (

    block.timestamp - s_previousVoteEndTimeStamp <=

    i_presidentalDuration

    ) {

    revert RankedChoice__NotTimeToVote();

    }

  • Miner Influence: Miners can manipulate block.timestamp within a range of approximately ±15 seconds (the actual allowance depends on the consensus protocol and network conditions).

  • Potential Exploit Scenario:

    • A miner could slightly accelerate or delay the ability to call selectPresident by manipulating the timestamp, though only within a limited window.

    • This manipulation could allow a miner to be the first to call selectPresident, but only if the timing is extremely precise.

Impact

Severity: Low

• Minor Influence on Election Timing: The miner's ability to manipulate block.timestamp is limited and unlikely to have a significant impact on the contract's functionality.

• No Major Security Risk: The manipulation window is too small to cause substantial harm or provide a meaningful advantage.

• Limited Practical Exploitability: Exploiting this would require significant effort for minimal gain.

Tools Used

• Manual Code Review: Identified the reliance on block.timestamp in time-based conditions.

• Understanding of Ethereum Consensus Rules: Knowledge of how miners can and cannot manipulate block timestamps.

Recommendations

• Accept the Minor Risk:

  • Given the low impact and limited exploitability, it may be acceptable to continue using block.timestamp.