The cryptocurrencies trading platform, Coinbase, would have been presenting a vulnerability in its network that, had it been revealed to the public, could have turned more than one into a crypto billionaire. This strange event was due to a recent configuration error in the exchange house, which allowed users to reward themselves ethers in an unlimited way.

The bug was identified by the Dutch company VI Company, who found the bug in December 2017. Today it is known, thanks to the vulnerability report made by VI Company through the HackerOne portal, that Coinbase suffered an error that allowed users to collect infinite amounts of ethers going unnoticed.

The document states that, normally, if an intelligent contract fails at the time of an inappropriate transaction (in this case, an incorrect address among several correct ones within the contract), the transactions are reversed immediately. However, in the case of the portfolio hosted at Coinbase, the transactions were not reversed, allowing customers to manipulate their Coinbase account balance.

"If one of the internal transactions in the smart contract fails, all previous transactions will be reversed. But at Coinbase, these transactions will not be reversed, which means that someone could add as many ethers to your balance as they wish. When you search for the Coinbase wallet address after this transaction, you will see that it is empty, but checking your Coinbase wallet will show your funds."

VI Company