Snowman Merkle Airdrop

AI First Flight #10
Beginner FriendlyFoundrySolidityNFT
EXP
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Submission Details
Severity: low
Valid

Global s_earnTimer in Snow lets any purchase or actor block free weekly earning for all users

Root + Impact

Description

  • The intended semantics is per-user weekly earning — earnSnow is invoked per msg.sender. But s_earnTimer is a single global storage slot (:30), so the weekly cooldown is shared across every address.

  • Two consequences: (1) only one earnSnow succeeds globally per week; (2) buySnow writes the same global slot at :87 without the weekly lock that earnSnow enforces at :93. Because buySnow is not itself rate-limited on this timer, any actor can call it at sub-week intervals to push the earn-eligibility window forward indefinitely, permanently suppressing free earning for everyone.

uint256 private s_earnTimer; // :30 — single GLOBAL slot, not per-address
function buySnow(uint256 amount) external payable canFarmSnow {
...
@> s_earnTimer = block.timestamp; // :87 — overwrites the global timer, NO weekly gate
}
function earnSnow() external canFarmSnow {
@> if (s_earnTimer != 0 && block.timestamp < (s_earnTimer + 1 weeks)) { // :93 reads the global slot
revert S__Timer();
}
_mint(msg.sender, 1);
s_earnTimer = block.timestamp; // :98
}

Risk

Likelihood:

  • Every time any user buys Snow, all pending earners are blocked for one week — triggered by normal protocol usage.

  • An attacker calling buySnow once every <1 week suppresses free earning permanently. Unprivileged, low-cost.

Impact:

  • The free weekly earn mechanism (core to the protocol's distribution model) becomes unusable for all users.

  • Bounded: earnSnow mints only 1 wei (:96), so the value suppressed per period is minimal — which is why this is Low, not higher.

Proof of Concept

: N/A

Recommended Mitigation

The root cause is one global s_earnTimer slot (:30) serving every address, plus buySnow overwriting it at :87 without the weekly gate that earnSnow enforces at :93. Keying the timer per msg.sender isolates each user's weekly window, so one address's activity can no longer block another's free earn. Removing the write from buySnow decouples purchasing from earn-eligibility — buying Snow was never intended to reset the earn cooldown — which eliminates the permanent-suppression vector.

- uint256 private s_earnTimer;
+ mapping(address => uint256) private s_earnTimer;
function buySnow(uint256 amount) external payable canFarmSnow {
...
- s_earnTimer = block.timestamp; // buying should not gate earning
emit SnowBought(msg.sender, amount);
}
function earnSnow() external canFarmSnow {
- if (s_earnTimer != 0 && block.timestamp < (s_earnTimer + 1 weeks)) {
+ if (s_earnTimer[msg.sender] != 0 && block.timestamp < (s_earnTimer[msg.sender] + 1 weeks)) {
revert S__Timer();
}
_mint(msg.sender, 1);
- s_earnTimer = block.timestamp;
+ s_earnTimer[msg.sender] = block.timestamp;
}
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge about 4 hours ago
Submission Judgement Published
Validated
Assigned finding tags:

[L-02] Global Timer Reset in Snow::buySnow Denies Free Claims for All Users

## Description: The `Snow::buySnow` function contains a critical flaw where it resets a global timer `(s_earnTimer)` to the current block timestamp on every invocation. This timer controls eligibility for free token claims via `Snow::earnSnow()`, which requires 1 week to pass since the last timer reset. As a result: Any token purchase `(via buySnow)` blocks all free claims for all users for 7 days Malicious actors can permanently suppress free claims with micro-transactions Contradicts protocol documentation promising **"free weekly claims per user"** ## Impact: * **Complete Denial-of-Service:** Free claim mechanism becomes unusable * **Broken Protocol Incentives:** Undermines core user acquisition strategy * **Economic Damage:** Eliminates promised free distribution channel * **Reputation Harm:** Users perceive protocol as dishonest ```solidity function buySnow(uint256 amount) external payable canFarmSnow { if (msg.value == (s_buyFee * amount)) { _mint(msg.sender, amount); } else { i_weth.safeTransferFrom(msg.sender, address(this), (s_buyFee * amount)); _mint(msg.sender, amount); } @> s_earnTimer = block.timestamp; emit SnowBought(msg.sender, amount); } ``` ## Risk **Likelihood**: • Triggered by normal protocol usage (any purchase) • Requires only one transaction every 7 days to maintain blockage • Incentivized attack (low-cost disruption) **Impact**: • Permanent suppression of core protocol feature • Loss of user trust and adoption • Violates documented tokenomics ## Proof of Concept **Attack Scenario:** Permanent Free Claim Suppression * Attacker calls **buySnow(1)** with minimum payment * **s\_earnTimer** sets to current timestamp (T0) * All **earnSnow()** calls revert for **next 7 days** * On day 6, attacker repeats **buySnow(1)** * New timer reset (T1 = T0+6 days) * Free claims blocked until **T1+7 days (total 13 days)** * Repeat step **4 every 6 days → permanent blockage** **Test Case:** ```solidity // Day 0: Deploy contract snow = new Snow(...); // s_earnTimer = 0 // UserA claims successfully snow.earnSnow(); // Success (first claim always allowed) // Day 1: UserB buys 1 token snow.buySnow(1); // Resets global timer to day 1 // Day 2: UserA attempts claim snow.earnSnow(); // Reverts! Requires day 1+7 = day 8 // Day 7: UserC buys 1 token (day 7 < day 1+7) snow.buySnow(1); // Resets timer to day 7 // Day 8: UserA retries snow.earnSnow(); // Still reverts! Now requires day 7+7 = day 14 ``` ## Recommended Mitigation **Step 1:** Remove Global Timer Reset from `buySnow` ```diff function buySnow(uint256 amount) external payable canFarmSnow { // ... existing payment logic ... - s_earnTimer = block.timestamp; emit SnowBought(msg.sender, amount); } ``` **Step 2:** Implement Per-User Timer in `earnSnow` ```solidity // Add new state variable mapping(address => uint256) private s_lastClaimTime; function earnSnow() external canFarmSnow { // Check per-user timer instead of global if (s_lastClaimTime[msg.sender] != 0 && block.timestamp < s_lastClaimTime[msg.sender] + 1 weeks ) { revert S__Timer(); } _mint(msg.sender, 1); s_lastClaimTime[msg.sender] = block.timestamp; // Update user-specific timer emit SnowEarned(msg.sender, 1); // Add missing event } ``` **Step 3:** Initialize First Claim (Constructor) ```solidity constructor(...) { // Initialize with current timestamp to prevent immediate claims s_lastClaimTime[address(0)] = block.timestamp; } ```

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