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Attack Tree Analysis for ripple/rippled

Objective: Manipulate XRP Ledger State or Disrupt Consensus

Attack Tree Visualization

                                      Manipulate XRP Ledger State or Disrupt Consensus
                                                      /       |
                                                     /        |
                                                    /         |
                                 -------------------------------------------------
                                 |                               |
                      1.  Denial of Service (DoS)     2.  Consensus Manipulation
                                 |                               |
                ---------------------------------       -------------------------
                |                |                |       |                     |
       1.1 Resource  1.2 Network   1.3 Application  2.3  UNL Manipulation [!]
       Exhaustion    Flooding      Layer Attacks        
                |                |                |
       ---------       ---------       ---------    ---------
       |       |       |       |       |       |
   1.1.1   1.1.2   1.2.1   1.2.2     1.3.2     2.3.1     2.3.2
    CPU     Mem     UDP     TCP     Mal-     Poison    Compromise
    Exh.    Exh.    Flood   Flood   formed    UNL       UNL
                                    Requests

Attack Tree Path: 1. Denial of Service (DoS)

  • Goal: Prevent legitimate users from accessing the rippled server or the XRP Ledger.
  • 1.1 Resource Exhaustion: Overwhelm the server's resources.
    • 1.1.1 CPU Exhaustion:
      • Description: Send computationally expensive requests to consume all available CPU cycles.
      • Likelihood: Medium
      • Impact: Medium
      • Effort: Low
      • Skill Level: Intermediate
      • Detection Difficulty: Medium
    • 1.1.2 Memory Exhaustion:
      • Description: Cause the server to run out of memory, leading to crashes or instability.
      • Likelihood: Medium
      • Impact: Medium
      • Effort: Low
      • Skill Level: Intermediate
      • Detection Difficulty: Medium
  • 1.2 Network Flooding: Saturate the server's network bandwidth.
    • 1.2.1 UDP Flood:
      • Description: Send a large volume of UDP packets to overwhelm the network interface.
      • Likelihood: High
      • Impact: High
      • Effort: Low
      • Skill Level: Intermediate
      • Detection Difficulty: Easy
    • 1.2.2 TCP Flood:
      • Description: Send a large volume of TCP packets (e.g., SYN flood) to exhaust connection resources.
      • Likelihood: High
      • Impact: High
      • Effort: Low
      • Skill Level: Intermediate
      • Detection Difficulty: Easy
  • 1.3 Application Layer Attacks: Exploit vulnerabilities in how rippled handles requests.
    • 1.3.2 Malformed Requests:
      • Description: Send specially crafted requests that trigger errors, unexpected behavior, or resource consumption.
      • Likelihood: Medium
      • Impact: High
      • Effort: Medium
      • Skill Level: Advanced
      • Detection Difficulty: Hard

Attack Tree Path: 2. Consensus Manipulation

  • Goal: Interfere with the consensus process to alter the ledger state or cause a fork.
  • 2.3 UNL Manipulation [!] (Critical Node): Tamper with the Unique Node List.
    • Description: This is the most critical attack vector. The UNL defines the trusted validators. Compromising it undermines the entire security model.
    • 2.3.1 Poison UNL:
      • Description: Inject malicious validator entries into the UNL.
      • Likelihood: Low
      • Impact: Very High
      • Effort: High
      • Skill Level: Expert
      • Detection Difficulty: Hard
    • 2.3.2 Compromise UNL:
      • Description: Gain unauthorized access to the UNL configuration and modify it.
      • Likelihood: Low
      • Impact: Very High
      • Effort: High
      • Skill Level: Expert
      • Detection Difficulty: Hard