The Who, What, Why and How of the Ongoing Transaction Malleability Attack

The Bitcoin Network Under Attack. If you are involved in the Bitcoin ecosystem at all, in the last 72 hours you have been exposed to the phrase "transaction malleability." It's what Mt Gox blamed when it enacted a sudden and prolonged halting of all withdrawals, and it's the vehicle for what has been called a "massive and concerted attack" on various bitcoin exchanges. Transaction malleability had also been a known characteristic of the Bitcoin protocol for a while, as pointed out by many in the community when Mt Gox cited it as a security liability. Despite all of this tumult within the....

For the past several years, the Bitcoin network has been bedeviled by transaction malleability attacks. These attacks shot to fame during the notorious Mt. Gox theft where it was referred as the sole reason for interrupting withdrawals. Since then, the attack has distressed many digital currency companies, including high-volumed exchanges BitStamp and BTC-e. What is the Transaction Malleability? While transaction malleability is still a little difficult to explain in plain English, we can consider it as an attack that tampers the unique Bitcoin transaction ID before it is confirmed by....

Mark Karpeles pulling a Cassious Coin from behind the photographer's ear. Solid research has proven what many bitcoiners have long suspected; transaction malleability did not play a significant, if any, role in the disappearance of 850,000 BTC from Japanese exchange Mt. Gox. Christian Decker and Roger Wattenhofer of ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, combed through the blockchain to tally each instance of a potential transaction malleability attack in order to figure out exactly how much Bitcoin was put at risk by the alleged attacks. Their research concludes: The transaction malleability problem....

This week, a term emerged that many bitcoiners won't have heard before: transaction malleability. Mt Gox cited it as a key reason for suspending withdrawals, and it was also mentioned as the basis for an exploit used in a massive attack against the bitcoin network this week. So, what is it, how does it work, and should we be worried? Here's what we know. What is transaction malleability? It's an attack that lets someone change the unique ID of a bitcoin transaction before it is confirmed on the bitcoin network. The change makes it possible for someone to pretend that a transaction didn't....

Having greatly influenced Mt. Gox in 2014, transaction malleability is a “new-old” issue within the Bitcoin industry. This issue can still create problems for the network, and negatively affect the perception of cryptocurrencies in general. As one of the exchanges that have faced several attempts of transaction malleability attacks against the platform,....