Menu
The Chia Plot
  • Blog
  • How-To
  • About
  • Contact
  • Security
  • Discord
The Chia Plot
Blue Box

Did Chia Network DDOS the network with Bluebox timelords?

Posted on September 5, 2021September 5, 2021 by Chris Dupres

Last week there were reports from a number of pools about a DDOS attack on them, as well as reports of a memory leak coming from all corners. It appears the core of a lot of these issues was Chia Network bringing online a number of Bluebox Timelords to handle VDF compression using an update to the system. This caused very high network activity and processing as the new Bluebox Timelords sent out compressed blocks.

The following is a message posted to reddit by J. Eckert, Chia Network VP of Ecosystem Operations, that details what happened from there end. It is possible that there was still a network-level attack against the pools, but this seems more likely to me at this point.

UPDATE: We gotten to the root of the problem. There has been an existing bug for an unknown (at least to me) amount of time in how nodes process some of the information coming in from Bluebox Timelords… however the number and scale of Blueboxes in the wild wasn’t large enough to create the number of calls to trigger this to where it is noticeable.

Over the last week however, Chia has been testing some new updates to the Bluebox Timelords code to make them run more efficiently, and as a result of that we deployed a large number of them in the wild to spike things up a bit… and this exacerbated the bug in nodes. For the time being we’ve shutdown our increased cluster as a temporary mitigation while we look into the bug itself. This should remove most of the pressure from nodes experiencing this.

(For those out of the loop, the Timelord runs as fast as it can to generate the next block, but the tradeoff is it does so inefficiently. So Bluebox Timelords are servers that dig through the chain and look for uncompressed, inefficiently generated blocks in the past and compact them down more efficiently and then gossip these changes out to all the nodes to shrink the overall chain DB size.)

J. Eckert, VP Ecosystem Operations

There are actually a few major implications to this. It appears that this is another unpublished attack in the Chia Network Consensus Document. It seems like that all you need to do to bring the Chia Network we are farming to its knees is bring on a large number of Bluebox Timelords and let the network DDOS itself passing those VDFs around.

In a forum post in 2018 Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum spoke about the VDF process and how it is vulnerable to ASIC speedups and blockchain manipulation, but I think that possibility combined with this reality where a large number of BlueBoxes will cause network instability really poses a risk to the network itself. This seems like something that should be easy to code, rate limiting for Bluebox compression. Lets hope that we see that come before someone with malicious intent does this instead.

Update: Thanks to r/Chia mode WillPhule Flexpool has confirmed their outage was caused, at least partially, by mobile phone IPs in Russia – making it a likely botnet

Related

3 thoughts on “Did Chia Network DDOS the network with Bluebox timelords?”

  1. willphule says:
    September 5, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    I was skeptical, but Sargonas seemed to think that you could be correct. I followed up and n the case of flexpool it seems it was an actual attack.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/Flexpool/comments/pfx617/downtime_on_us_chia_regions/hbpb8og/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

    Reply
    1. Chris Dupres says:
      September 5, 2021 at 1:25 pm

      I think its too bad, im a big fan of the bluebox process. I hope they sort this out and get back to it.

      Reply
  2. Bill Nickless says:
    September 6, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    Yet another reason to look forward to interoperable implementations of the Chia protocol. I share your concern about the Python runtime being a single point of failure for the Chia network, both in terms of availability and integrity of the Full Nodes exposed to the public Internet.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Advertisement

Recent Posts

  • Crypto is burning down – Chia seems fine
  • Chia CAT upgrade fiasco part 2 – Was I wrong?
  • WTF just happened?? CAT1 to CAT2 “upgrade”
  • The era of the Chia NFT is upon us
  • Chia Blockchain 1.4.0 released – NFTs and DIDs oh my
  • Discussion
  • Facts About Farmers
  • How-To
  • Information
  • News
  • pools
  • Security
  • Trademark
  • Trading
  • Uncategorized

Dark Mode Switch

©2021 The Chia Plot - Donate XCH / MRMT / SBX @ xch1p4440d6zwu9ryta2vx073lq2ge3s29d37kskz6t34jp085e8srjqnk0gcr
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
JSESSIONIDsessionUsed by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
na_id1 year 1 monthThis cookie is set by Addthis.com to enable sharing of links on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter
na_rn1 monthThis cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This cookie allows to collect information on user behaviour and allows sharing function provided by Addthis.com
na_sc_e1 monthThis cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This cookie allows to collect information on user behaviour and allows sharing function provided by Addthis.com
na_sr1 monthThis cookie is set by Addthis.com. This cookie is used for sharing of links on social media platforms.
na_srp1 minuteThis cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This cookie allows to collect information on user behaviour and allows sharing function provided by Addthis.com
na_tc1 year 1 monthThis cookie is set by the provider Addthis. This cookie is used for social media sharing tracking service.
ouid1 year 1 monthThe cookie is set by Addthis which enables the content of the website to be shared across different networking and social sharing websites.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
d3 monthsThis cookie tracks anonymous information on how visitors use the website.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
__gads1 year 24 daysThis cookie is set by Google and stored under the name dounleclick.com. This cookie is used to track how many times users see a particular advert which helps in measuring the success of the campaign and calculate the revenue generated by the campaign. These cookies can only be read from the domain that it is set on so it will not track any data while browsing through another sites.
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_gtag_UA_199099757_11 minuteThis cookie is set by Google and is used to distinguish users.
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.
CONSENT16 years 4 months 5 daysThese cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos. They register anonymous statistical data on for example how many times the video is displayed and what settings are used for playback.No sensitive data is collected unless you log in to your google account, in that case your choices are linked with your account, for example if you click “like” on a video.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
advanced_ads_browser_width1 monthThis cookie is set by Advanced ads plugin.This cookie is used to measure and store the user browser width for adverts.
anj3 monthsNo description available.
CMID1 yearThe cookie is set by CasaleMedia. The cookie is used to collect information about the usage behavior for targeted advertising.
CMPRO3 monthsThis cookie is set by Casalemedia and is used for targeted advertisement purposes.
CMPS3 monthsThis cookie is set by Casalemedia and is used for targeted advertisement purposes.
CMRUM31 yearThis cookie is set by Casalemedia and is used for targeted advertisement purposes.
CMST1 dayThe cookie is set by CasaleMedia. The cookie is used to collect information about the usage behavior for targeted advertising.
DSID1 hourThis cookie is setup by doubleclick.net. This cookie is used by Google to make advertising more engaging to users and are stored under doubleclick.net. It contains an encrypted unique ID.
i1 yearThe purpose of the cookie is not known yet.
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
KADUSERCOOKIE3 monthsThe cookie is set by pubmatic.com for identifying the visitors' website or device from which they visit PubMatic's partners' website.
KTPCACOOKIE1 dayThis cookie is set by pubmatic.com for the purpose of checking if third-party cookies are enabled on the user's website.
mc1 year 1 monthThis cookie is associated with Quantserve to track anonymously how a user interact with the website.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
uid1 year 1 monthThis cookie is used to measure the number and behavior of the visitors to the website anonymously. The data includes the number of visits, average duration of the visit on the website, pages visited, etc. for the purpose of better understanding user preferences for targeted advertisments.
uuid3 monthsTo optimize ad relevance by collecting visitor data from multiple websites such as what pages have been loaded.
uuid23 monthsThis cookies is set by AppNexus. The cookies stores information that helps in distinguishing between devices and browsers. This information us used to select advertisements served by the platform and assess the performance of the advertisement and attribute payment for those advertisements.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
YSCsessionThis cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverThese cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverThese cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
__gpi1 year 24 daysNo description
adImpCountpastNo description
C3UID5 yearsNo description available.
C3UID-9245 yearsNo description
fc5 months 27 daysNo description available.
pfpastNo description
pxs5 months 27 daysNo description available.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo