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rakesh0x7 committed Jun 4, 2024
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Ethereum smart contract code, storage, and any data transacted on-chain can always be read. Treat it as such. Even if your code is not verified on Etherscan, attackers can still decompile or check transactions to and from it to analyze it. For this reason, it's imperative that private data is never stored on-chain unencrypted.

### Explanation

When data is stored on-chain, it is accessible to anyone who can read the blockchain. This includes all transaction data and contract storage. Even if the source code of your smart contract is not publicly verified, an attacker can decompile the bytecode to analyze its functionality and access storage data.

### Example

Let's consider a scenario where a user stores their email, password, and username on-chain without encryption:
Let's consider a scenario where players participate in an Odd or Even game. Each player submits a number, and the winner is determined by the sum of both numbers being odd or even. Here is a vulnerable implementation:

```solidity
// Vulnerable contract storing unencrypted private data
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
contract UserInfo {
struct User {
string username;
string email;
string password;
contract OddEven {
struct Player {
address payable addr;
uint number;
}
mapping(address => User) private users;
function setUserInfo(string memory _username, string memory _email, string memory _password) public {
users[msg.sender] = User(_username, _email, _password);
Player[2] private players;
uint8 count = 0;
function play(uint number) public payable {
require(msg.value == 1 ether);
players[count] = Player(payable(msg.sender), number);
count++;
if (count == 2) selectWinner();
}
function getUserInfo() public view returns (string memory, string memory) {
User memory user = users[msg.sender];
return (user.username, user.email);
function selectWinner() private {
uint n = players[0].number + players[1].number;
players[n % 2].addr.transfer(address(this).balance);
delete players;
count = 0;
}
}
```

In this contract, the `users` mapping stores the username, email, and password in plain text. Although the `users` mapping is marked as private, this only means it is not accessible via other smart contracts. However, anyone can read the blockchain and view the stored values.
In this contract, the `players` array stores the submitted numbers in plain text. Although the `players` array is marked as private, this only means it is not accessible via other smart contracts. However, anyone can read the blockchain and view the stored values. This means the first player's number will be visible, allowing the second player to select a number that they know will make them a winner.

### Protection Mechanisms
To protect sensitive data, consider the following strategies:

1) Encryption: Encrypt data before storing it on-chain. Only store encrypted data and manage decryption keys off-chain.
2) Off-Chain Storage: Store sensitive data off-chain and only reference it on-chain when necessary.
3) Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Use cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs to validate data without revealing it.
1) Commit-Reveal Scheme: Use a commit-reveal scheme where the data is committed to the blockchain in one phase and revealed in another.
2) Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Use cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs to validate data without revealing it.

### References

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