Design Patterns which Facilitate Message Digest Collision Attacks on Blockchains

Abstract

Message digest algorithms are one of the underlying building blocks of\nblockchain platforms such as Ethereum. This paper analyses situations in which\nthe message digest collision resistance property can be exploited by attackers.\nTwo mitigations for possible attacks are described: longer message digest sizes\nmake attacks more difficult; and, including timeliness properties limits the\namount of time an attacker has to determine a hash collision.\n