<blockquote>
  <p>Does freshly installed bitcoin-core node have genesis block included in the installation?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Yes.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This fresh node contacts some peer for downloading blockchain. Can malicious peer give node wrong chain? Is this attack possible and how is it mitigated in bitcoin?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There is no way for the chain to be "wrong" that would not be detectable to the node. If it's invalid, the node will reject it. If there's a longer chain, the node will reject the shorter chain. If it's the longest, valid chain, it's not wrong.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-02T21:53:53.533Z
So bitcoin relys on the fact that the node will eventually manage to get the main (longest) blockchain from honest peer?
croraf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-02T21:54:48.580Z
@croraf That's unavoidable. There's simply no way to make the system work without at least one honest peer. No honest peers is equivalent to no network access at all.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-03T07:07:35.727Z
by default the node will attempt to get connected to 30 peers, which usually contains enough honest peers to resolve any conflicts.
Jonathan Silverblood
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-02T21:22:08.497Z
2017-11-02T21:22:08.497Z
David Schwartz
<p>I'm considering two scenarios of hacking freshly installed bitcoin core node.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Does freshly installed bitcoin-core node have genesis block included in the installation?</p></li>
<li><p>This fresh node contacts some peer for downloading blockchain. Can malicious peer give node wrong chain? Is this attack possible and how is it mitigated in bitcoin? </p></li>
</ol>

<bitcoin-core><genesis-block><peers><hacking>
Can malicious peer hack freshly installed bitcoin-core node
croraf
# Can malicious peer hack freshly installed bitcoin-core node

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-02)

I'm considering two scenarios of hacking freshly installed bitcoin core node.

1. Does freshly installed bitcoin-core node have genesis block included in the installation?
2. This fresh node contacts some peer for downloading blockchain. Can malicious peer give node wrong chain? Is this attack possible and how is it mitigated in bitcoin?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, genesis-block, peers, hacking


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-11-02. Score: 3

> Does freshly installed bitcoin-core node have genesis block included in the installation?

Yes.

> This fresh node contacts some peer for downloading blockchain. Can malicious peer give node wrong chain? Is this attack possible and how is it mitigated in bitcoin?

There is no way for the chain to be "wrong" that would not be detectable to the node. If it's invalid, the node will reject it. If there's a longer chain, the node will reject the shorter chain. If it's the longest, valid chain, it's not wrong.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So bitcoin relys on the fact that the node will eventually manage to get the main (longest) blockchain from honest peer?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 That's unavoidable. There's simply no way to make the system work without at least one honest peer. No honest peers is equivalent to no network access at all.  
> **username_2**: by default the node will attempt to get connected to 30 peers, which usually contains enough honest peers to resolve any conflicts.  

---

