Merklision: composing two Merkle bugs into 2048 collisions

The challenge wanted 2020 distinct strings colliding on one Merkle root. A second-preimage attack gives about ten. An odd-length duplication bug gives about a thousand. Alternating the two gives one answer per length up to 2048. My 2020 solver reported 2047, and the one it missed took five years to notice.

October 24, 2020 · 17 min · Minh Tran