The contribute function transfers SOL from the contributor to the fund but never
records the contributed amount in the Contribution account. As a result, every
call to refund transfers 0 lamports back to the contributor — permanently locking
their funds in the contract.
The Contribution account tracks each contributor's deposited amount via the
amount field. The normal behavior is: when a contributor calls contribute,
their contribution.amount should increase by the contributed value so that
refund can return the correct amount later.
The contribute function initializes contribution.amount = 0 on first call
but never increments it on any call — including the first one — after the
transfer executes.
When refund is later called:
The refund always processes a transfer of 0 lamports, making the entire
refund mechanism non-functional.
Likelihood:
Every contributor who calls refund after a failed campaign receives nothing —
contribution.amount is always 0 regardless of how much SOL was contributed
The bug is triggered on 100% of refund calls with no special conditions required
Impact:
Contributors permanently lose all SOL they contributed to any campaign
The refund mechanism — a core protocol guarantee — is completely non-functional
Funds accumulate in the fund PDA with no way to recover them via the intended path
The bug is reproducible on every single contribution. When contribute is called,
SOL is correctly transferred via CPI and fund.amount_raised is incremented —
but contribution.amount stays at 0 because the update is simply missing.
When refund later reads contribution.amount, it gets 0 and transfers nothing
back to the contributor.
The fix is a single line addition in contribute, placed after the SOL transfer
succeeds. The contribution record must be incremented by amount so that the
refund function can later return the correct value. Using += instead of =
also correctly handles multiple contributions from the same address to the same
fund — each new deposit accumulates into the existing record.
## 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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