CVE-2018-12081
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe mintToken function of a smart contract implementation for Target Coin (TGT), a tradable Ethereum ERC20 token, has no period constraint, which allows the owner to increase the total supply of the digital assets arbitrarily so as to make profits, aka the "tradeTrap" issue.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Target Coin (TGT) ERC20 smart contract's mintToken function lacks any time-based constraint, enabling the contract owner to arbitrarily mint new tokens and inflate the total supply at will for personal profit. This is the 'tradeTrap' vulnerability.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify TGT token holdingsCheck any Ethereum wallet (e.g., MetaMask, MyEtherWallet) or blockchain explorer (e.g., Etherscan) for TGT token balance in your controlled walletsAffected if You hold any amount of TGT tokens - this means you are exposed to potential inflation of the token supply
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Locate the deployed TGT contract addressIdentify the official TGT token contract address from a trusted source (e.g., CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, or the official project website)Affected if The contract address is confirmed to be the official TGT token contract - the vulnerable contract is in use
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Inspect the contract source codeOn Etherscan or similar blockchain explorer, go to the Contract tab and view the verified source code. Search for the 'mintToken' functionAffected if The mintToken function exists in the contract code - this confirms the vulnerable function is present
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Verify mintToken access controlsWithin the mintToken function code, check if there are any time-based constraints (e.g., require statements with timestamps), minting caps, or time locks that limit when the owner can mintAffected if The mintToken function has NO time-based constraints, caps, or time locks - this means arbitrary minting is possible
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Check for recent supply changesOn a blockchain explorer, review the token supply history or look for Transfer events involving the token contract address (minting events)Affected if There are any minting events or the total supply has increased without corresponding burn events - this confirms the vulnerability has been exploited
If you hold TGT tokens and the deployed contract's mintToken function lacks time-based constraints, your holdings are at risk of dilution through arbitrary supply inflation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataThe mintToken function should be removed or redesigned with strict access controls, time locks, and caps on minting frequency and amount to prevent unauthorized supply inflation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12081 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-12081 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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