6.5
MEDIUM
CVE-2023-38698
Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Domain Expiration Time Reduction Vulnerability
Description

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed, open, and extensible naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the documentation, controllers are allowed to register new domains and extend the expiry of existing domains, but they cannot change the ownership or reduce the expiration time of existing domains. However, a preliminary analysis suggests that an attacker-controlled controller may be able to reduce the expiration time of existing domains due to an integer overflow in the renew function. The vulnerability resides `@ensdomains/ens-contracts` prior to version 0.0.22. If successfully exploited, this vulnerability would enable attackers to force the expiration of any ENS record, ultimately allowing them to claim the affected domains for themselves. Currently, it would require a malicious DAO to exploit it. Nevertheless, any vulnerability present in the controllers could potentially render this issue exploitable in the future. An additional concern is the possibility of renewal discounts. Should ENS decide to implement a system that offers unlimited .eth domains for a fixed fee in the future, the vulnerability could become exploitable by any user due to the reduced attack cost. Version 0.0.22 contains a patch for this issue. As long as registration cost remains linear or superlinear based on registration duration, or limited to a reasonable maximum (eg, 1 million years), this vulnerability could only be exploited by a malicious DAO. The interim workaround is thus to take no action.

INFO

Published Date :

Aug. 4, 2023, 6:15 p.m.

Last Modified :

Nov. 21, 2024, 8:14 a.m.

Remotely Exploitable :

Yes !

Impact Score :

3.6

Exploitability Score :

2.8
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2023-38698 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Ens.domains ethereum_name_service

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2023-38698 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2023-38698 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

    Nov. 21, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/blob/master/contracts/ethregistrar/BaseRegistrarImplementation.sol#L171
    Added Reference https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/commit/e6b136e979084de3761c125142620304173990ca
    Added Reference https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/security/advisories/GHSA-rrxv-q8m4-wch3
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    May. 14, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
  • Initial Analysis by [email protected]

    Aug. 10, 2023

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CVSS V3.1 NIST AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
    Changed Reference Type https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/blob/master/contracts/ethregistrar/BaseRegistrarImplementation.sol#L171 No Types Assigned https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/blob/master/contracts/ethregistrar/BaseRegistrarImplementation.sol#L171 Product
    Changed Reference Type https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/commit/e6b136e979084de3761c125142620304173990ca No Types Assigned https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/commit/e6b136e979084de3761c125142620304173990ca Patch
    Changed Reference Type https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/security/advisories/GHSA-rrxv-q8m4-wch3 No Types Assigned https://github.com/ensdomains/ens-contracts/security/advisories/GHSA-rrxv-q8m4-wch3 Exploit, Vendor Advisory
    Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:a:ens.domains:ethereum_name_service:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions up to (excluding) 0.0.22
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2023-38698 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2023-38698 weaknesses.

Exploit Prediction

EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days.

0.11 }} -0.09%

score

0.30550

percentile

CVSS31 - Vulnerability Scoring System
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Latest DB Update: Jun. 24, 2025 10:17