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Cosmos IBC Security: Cross-Chain Communication Risks
Analysis of Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) security in the Cosmos ecosystem.
ExVul Research Team
Security Researchers
August 202413 min
#Cosmos#IBC#Cross-chain
IBC Protocol
IBC enables trustless communication between Cosmos SDK chains. Understanding its security model is crucial for cross-chain application developers.
Security Model
- Light client verification
- Relayer trust assumptions
- Timeout and acknowledgment handling
- Channel ordering guarantees
IBC's security relies on the security of both the source and destination chains. A compromised chain can affect all connected chains.
Chain Security
IBC security depends on connected chains
Timeout Handling
Always handle packet timeouts properly
Relayer Independence
Don't trust relayer for security