In 2010, Bitcoin experienced a major security incident, the so-called "transaction overflow vulnerability" (also known as the "value overflow vulnerability"). The incident occurred on August 15 of that year, when an unidentified hacker exploited a serious vulnerability in the Bitcoin software. The vulnerability existed in the Bitcoin code implementation, not the basic protocol design itself.
Vulnerability details: The vulnerability allows an attacker to set an abnormally high amount in the output of a transaction. Specifically, by setting an overflow value, the amount of the transaction output far exceeds the maximum supply of Bitcoin (21 million Bitcoins). This vulnerability stems from insufficient verification of the transaction output value in the code, allowing the attacker to set the output value to a very large irrational number, which is equivalent to creating a large number of Bitcoins out of thin air.
During the attack, the hacker used this vulnerability to generate a transaction containing 184.467 billion bitcoins, and successfully got the transaction confirmed by the network. This amount far exceeds the total supply of bitcoins, theoretically destroying the scarcity and value foundation of bitcoins.
as a result of
-**Market chaos**: Although the actual transactions were not circulated in the market, this incident caused great panic in the Bitcoin community because if these bitcoins were recognized and used, it would completely destroy the economic model of Bitcoin.
-**Emergency Fix**: Bitcoin's founder Satoshi Nakamoto and other core developers responded quickly by creating a new blockchain branch (hard fork) to reverse the illegal transaction, effectively deleting the bitcoins created out of thin air from the historical record. All honest nodes upgraded to the new software version and refused to recognize the blockchain containing the illegal transaction, ensuring the integrity of the Bitcoin network and the consistency of its rules. -
Trust test: Although the incident was eventually resolved, it posed a severe trust test to the Bitcoin community at the time, and many people began to question the security of the Bitcoin system. However, this was also the first time that Bitcoin demonstrated its ability to self-correct, that is, to respond to crises through community consensus and rapid action.
- **Development Opportunity**: In the long run, this incident has further strengthened the Bitcoin protocol and software, strengthened the check on transaction verification, and improved the robustness of the entire system. It has also become an important lesson in the development of Bitcoin, reminding developers and community members to continuously review and improve the code to prevent similar vulnerabilities in the future.
In summary, the transaction overflow vulnerability in 2010 was an event that had a major impact on the nascent Bitcoin system. However, through timely response and community solidarity, Bitcoin was able to recover and continue its development. #美国5月核心PCE物价指数年率增幅创2021年3月以来新低 #Mt.Gox将启动偿还计划 #VanEck提交首个SolanaETF #美联储何时降息？ #币安合约锦标赛
