Exploring the Security Landscape of NFT Transactions

Abstract

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized the blockchain ecosystem by enabling the decentralized representation and ownership of unique digital assets. However, the NFT landscape is increasingly susceptible to security vulnerabilities and attack vectors, necessitating robust protection mechanisms. This research presents a comprehensive analysis and a structured framework to enhance the security of NFT transactions. The relevant studies were identified using a snowballing method as the paper searching approach, ensuring systematic and comprehensive coverage of the existing literature. Specifically, it examines critical security risks, including ownership duplication, duplicate token generation, unauthorized asset withdrawal, asset replication, and metadata manipulation. A key contribution of this study is the development of a detailed taxonomy of NFT-related threats and attacks, providing researchers and practitioners with a consolidated perspective on the evolving security landscape. Furthermore, we introduce and analyze attack vectors, demonstrating its implications and proposing an effective mitigation strategy.