How Does Gas Limit Affect the Complexity of a Flash Loan Attack?
A flash loan attack involves multiple complex steps: borrowing, trading, interacting with the vulnerable contract, and repaying. Each step consumes gas.
The entire sequence must fit within the block's maximum gas limit. This constraint limits the number of operations and the complexity of the exploit an attacker can execute, forcing them to be highly efficient and strategic in their code execution.
Glossar
Flash Loan
Mechanism ⎊ A flash loan represents an uncollateralized loan executed entirely within a single blockchain transaction, enabling borrowers to access substantial capital for a very short duration, typically seconds.
Block Gas Limit
Gas ⎊ Within blockchain networks, particularly Ethereum, gas represents a unit of computational effort required to execute a transaction or smart contract operation.
Flash Loan Attack
Exploit ⎊ A flash loan attack leverages the permissionless and composable nature of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to execute a series of transactions within a single, fleeting block, often exploiting arbitrage opportunities or manipulating market prices.