R.U.D.Y. Sockstress refers to a category of resource exhaustion attacks designed to disrupt network services by slowly consuming server resources, leading to a denial of service. R.U.D.Y. (Slowloris variant) specifically uses slow HTTP POST requests, while Sockstress targets TCP connection states. In the crypto context, these attacks could target centralized exchanges, institutional trading platforms, or even decentralized application (dApp) frontends, rendering them unresponsive to legitimate users. Their fundamental purpose is to degrade service availability and prevent legitimate access to trading interfaces or critical blockchain infrastructure by tying up system resources.
Mechanism
The mechanism of R.U.D.Y. involves initiating an HTTP POST request but sending the data body in extremely small, infrequent chunks, keeping the connection open for extended periods. This exhausts server connection tables and processing threads. Sockstress exploits vulnerabilities in the TCP/IP stack by opening numerous TCP connections and then manipulating TCP window sizes to prevent data transfer, thereby keeping connections in a half-open state indefinitely. Both attacks aim to consume a finite resource, such as open sockets or connection memory, until no new legitimate connections can be accepted. These methods operate under normal traffic patterns, making detection difficult.
Methodology
The strategic approach to defending against R.U.D.Y. and Sockstress attacks requires robust server configuration and advanced traffic analysis. Methodologies include implementing aggressive connection timeout settings, limiting the maximum number of concurrent connections per IP address, and enforcing minimum transfer rates for active connections. For crypto exchanges, deploying specialized
A low and slow attack targets the finite stateful resources of a server, like connection threads, by using protracted, low-volume traffic to cause systemic exhaustion.
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