Exchanges Suspend Tokens Due to BatchOverflow Bug

A number of virtual currency exchanges halted trading of ERC20-based tokens because of a recently discovered BatchOverflow Bug.

The BatchOverflow Bug, which is not really tied to the ERC20 standard itself, is a vulnerability that, when exploited, will allow the attacker to create any number of tokens as he wants. If a large number of tokens are created from this bug, which is then traded for major coins such as bitcoin, a price manipulation could ensue.

Many cryptocurrency exchanges, including HitBTC, Poloniex, Quione, and OKEx, suspended trading of the tokens while investigating.

There was no list of affected ERC20-based tokens (as only those who implemented the “batchTransfer” function are affected). However, an initial report noted BeautyChain as one of the tokens that got affected. BeautyChain has acknowledged the bug and promised to fix the issue. In the meantime, trading of BeautyChain tokens (BEC) is suspended in many platforms.

Sources: Peckshield, Cointelegraph