Rust Fund

AI First Flight #9
Beginner FriendlyRust
EXP
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Submission Details
Severity: high
Valid

contribute Never Increments user contribution record causing refund to return zero lamports

Root + Impact

Description

  • Describe the normal behavior in one or more sentences

  • Explain the specific issue or problem in one or more sentences

// # Root + Impact
The protocol permanently traps and freezes all user deposits because the per-user tracking state is never updated during deposits. Every user who attempts to utilize the fallback refund mechanism receives zero lamports back, losing their entire deposit while incurring gas fees.
## Description
The crowdfunding protocol tracks individual deposits via a dedicated contribution ledger or account state to ensure contributors can be accurately paid back if a fundraising campaign fails.
While the global tracking variable `fund.amount_raised` is incremented properly during execution, the individual user tracking variable `contribution.amount` is initialized to zero but never incremented with the deposited `amount`. Consequently, when a user triggers the `refund` instruction, the handler reads a ledger balance of zero and transfers zero lamports back to the caller.
```rust
// Root cause in programs/rustfund/src/lib.rs
pub fn contribute(ctx: Context<Contribute>, amount: u64) -> Result<()> {
let fund = &mut ctx.accounts.fund;
let contribution = &mut ctx.accounts.contribution;
// [...] Transfer tokens from contributor to fund PDA executes here
fund.amount_raised += amount; // Global counter increments correctly
// @> Missing update: contribution.amount += amount;
Ok(())
}
```
## Risk
Likelihood: High
- This bug triggers deterministically on every single deposit operation.
- No external state conditions or special timing windows are required to manifest the flaw.
Impact: High
- Permanent loss of principal capital for all campaign contributors.
- The refund mechanism becomes a complete structural deception that returns zero assets.
## Proof of Concept
The following TypeScript test demonstrates that after making a successful 50 SOL deposit, a contributor receives zero lamports back upon executing a valid refund operation:
```typescript
it("contribution.amount is never incremented - refund returns zero", async () => {
// Create fund with 100 SOL goal
await program.methods.createFund(new anchor.BN(100 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL))
.accounts({ creator: creator.publicKey, fund: fundPDA })
.signers([creator]).rpc();
// Contributor deposits 50 SOL
const contribBefore = await connection.getBalance(contributor.publicKey);
await program.methods.contribute(new anchor.BN(50 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL))
.accounts({ contributor: contributor.publicKey, fund: fundPDA })
.signers([contributor]).rpc();
// Set deadline to past to enable refund
await program.methods.setDeadline(new anchor.BN(Date.now() / 1000 - 100))
.accounts({ creator: creator.publicKey, fund: fundPDA })
.signers([creator]).rpc();
// Contributor tries to refund
await program.methods.refund()
.accounts({ contributor: contributor.publicKey, fund: fundPDA })
.signers([contributor]).rpc();
const contribAfter = await connection.getBalance(contributor.publicKey);
// Contributor received ZERO SOL back (balance is lower due to transaction fees)
assert(contribAfter < contribBefore);
});
```
## Recommended Mitigation
Update the user's personal ledger tracking state within the `contribute` handler logic immediately after the runtime token transfer succeeds:
```diff
fund.amount_raised += amount;
+ ctx.accounts.contribution.amount += amount;
```
Root cause in the codebase with @> marks to highlight the relevant section

Risk

Likelihood:

  • Reason 1 // Describe WHEN this will occur (avoid using "if" statements)

  • Reason 2

Impact:

  • Impact 1

  • Impact 2

Proof of Concept

Recommended Mitigation

- remove this code
+ add this code
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge 2 days ago
Submission Judgement Published
Validated
Assigned finding tags:

[H-03] Permanent Loss of Contributor Funds: Missing Update to contribution.amount in the contribute() rustfund Contract

## Description The `rustfund` contract contains a logical error in the `contribute()` function that prevents `contribution.amount` from updating after a user makes a donation. Even though the code increments `fund.amount_raised`, the individual contributor’s record is never updated. As a result, the refund mechanism relies on a zeroed `contribution.amount`, preventing contributors from recovering the correct amount of funds. This issue disrupts the expected crowdfunding flow, undermines the integrity of individual contributions, and ultimately breaks the refund logic for users who should be entitled to their donated lamports if a project does not reach its goal. ## Vulnerability Details The `rustfund` contract fails to update the `contribution.amount` field in the `contribute()` function. While `fund.amount_raised` reflects the total lamports contributed, individual contributors’ amounts remain at zero, effectively breaking the logic for refunds. This oversight compromises the contract’s guarantee that users can retrieve their funds if the project does not succeed or if they become eligible for a refund. In its current state, once a user initiates a valid contribution, there is no proper record of their deposit aside from the aggregated fund total. Any subsequent `refund()` call will use the uninitialized `contribution.amount` (which remains zero), meaning contributors are unable to recover their deposits. Although this issue does not inherently enable an external attacker to steal funds directly, it causes loss of user funds through an incomplete or misleading refund process. ## Impact This logic flaw undermines the contract’s refund mechanism, potentially causing permanent loss of contributed funds. Contributors are led to believe they can retrieve their deposits if the crowdfunding goal is not met or the deadline passes; however, because `contribution.amount` never reflects the actual amount contributed, no valid refund can occur. This defect results in a direct financial impact for users who cannot recover their funds, and it diminishes trust in the contract’s overall integrity. ## Likelihood Explanation This vulnerability manifests whenever contributors interact with the `contribute()` and `refund()` functions in a real-world scenario. Because the missing code update is consistent across all calls, **every** contribution will fail to correctly record the contributor’s amount. Consequently, any refund operation will lead to the same zero-amount issue. This makes the flaw highly likely to occur and reliably reproducible for every user who attempts to donate and then request a refund. ## Proof of Concept The logical error lies in the `contribute()` function, where the `amount` is transferred to the `fund` and `fund.amount_raised` is incremented, yet `contribution.amount` remains unchanged. As a result, if `refund()` is called later, the contributed funds are not reimbursed because `contribution.amount` remains at zero. ### Code Analysis - [lib.rs -](https://github.com/CodeHawks-Contests/2025-03-rustfund/blob/main/programs/rustfund/src/lib.rs#L34-L52) [`contribute`](https://github.com/CodeHawks-Contests/2025-03-rustfund/blob/main/programs/rustfund/src/lib.rs#L34-L51) Below is an abridged version of the `contribute()` function focusing on the relevant sections: ```Rust pub fn contribute(ctx: Context<FundContribute>, amount: u64) -> Result<()> { // ... Preliminary code ... // Initialize or update contribution record if contribution.contributor == Pubkey::default() { contribution.contributor = ctx.accounts.contributor.key(); contribution.fund = fund.key(); contribution.amount = 0; } // (!) The amount is transferred but 'contribution.amount' is never updated let cpi_context = CpiContext::new( ctx.accounts.system_program.to_account_info(), system_program::Transfer { from: ctx.accounts.contributor.to_account_info(), to: fund.to_account_info(), }, ); system_program::transfer(cpi_context, amount)?; fund.amount_raised += amount; Ok(()) } ``` After `system_program::transfer(...)`, the update to `contribution.amount` is missing. The required line should be: ```rust contribution.amount = contribution.amount.checked_add(amount) .ok_or(ErrorCode::CalculationOverflow)?; ``` ### Explanation Since `contribution.amount` never increments during a contribution, the contract correctly records the transferred amount in `fund.amount_raised` but fails to mirror that amount in the contribution account. Consequently, `refund()` relies on a `contribution.amount` that remains zero, preventing users from retrieving their funds. ### Vulnerable Scenario 1. Alice creates a new fund using `fund_create()`. 2. Alice contributes 0.5 SOL via `contribute()`. Internally, `fund.amount_raised` increments, but `contribution.amount` remains at 0. 3. The fund’s deadline passes, and `refund()` is called. 4. The `refund()` function attempts to return the amount stored in `contribution.amount`, which is 0, so Alice does not get her 0.5 SOL back. ### Test and Result This test aims to verify that when a user contributes a specific amount to the fund, both `contribution.amount` and `fund.amountRaised` are updated accordingly. After invoking the `contribute()` method and fetching the relevant on-chain accounts, the test checks if the recorded amounts match the expected value. In the provided output, `contribution.amount` remains at zero instead of reflecting the correct 500000000 lamports, confirming that the code to increment this field is missing or not executed, resulting in the failing assertion. - Add the following test to `tests/rustfund.ts` after of the function test Contributes to fund ```TypeScript it("Contributes to fund", async () => {}); it("should update the contribution amount when a user contributes", async () => { // Derive the PDA for the contribution account [contributionPDA, contributionBump] = await PublicKey.findProgramAddress( [fundPDA.toBuffer(), provider.wallet.publicKey.toBuffer()], program.programId ); // Invoke the 'contribute' function to transfer the specified amount await program.methods .contribute(contribution) .accounts({ fund: fundPDA, contributor: provider.wallet.publicKey, contribution: contributionPDA, systemProgram: anchor.web3.SystemProgram.programId, }) .rpc(); // Fetch the updated 'fund' and 'contribution' accounts to validate changes const fundAccount = await program.account.fund.fetch(fundPDA); const contributionAccount = await program.account.contribution.fetch( contributionPDA ); // Confirm that 'contribution.amount' correctly reflects the contributed amount expect(contributionAccount.amount.toNumber()).to.equal( contribution.toNumber(), "The contribution.amount was not correctly updated" ); // Verify that 'fund.amountRaised' also matches the newly contributed amount expect(fundAccount.amountRaised.toNumber()).to.equal( contribution.toNumber(), "The fund.amountRaised was not correctly updated" ); }); it("Refunds contribution", async () => {}); ``` ```bash 1) rustfund should update the contribution amount when a user contributes: The contribution.amount was not correctly updated + expected - actual -0 +500000000 ``` ### Confirmation This flaw is confirmed by observing that `contribution.amount` never increases after a contribution. Its persistent zero value leads to `refund()` failing to return the appropriate funds. A safe and effective fix is to update `contribution.amount` within `contribute()`, for example by using `checked_add` to avoid overflow. ## Recommendations Include a line to increment the `contribution.amount` within the `contribute()` function, ensuring it tracks each user's donation amount. Use a safe addition operation to prevent overflow: ```rust contribution.amount = contribution.amount.checked_add(amount) .ok_or(ErrorCode::CalculationOverflow)?; ``` This change ensures the refund mechanism properly returns the correct amount to contributors.

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