What Is a ‘Race Attack’ in the Context of Double-Spending?

A 'race attack' is a type of double-spend where an attacker attempts to race a legitimate transaction against a conflicting transaction. The attacker sends the legitimate transaction to a vendor for goods or services and immediately broadcasts a conflicting transaction to the network, often with a higher fee.

The goal is to get the conflicting transaction confirmed first, effectively keeping the funds while receiving the goods.