Base blockchain exploit leads to $1M theft — Cyvers Alerts

As a seasoned crypto investor with a knack for navigating the digital financial landscape, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment upon hearing about the $1 million theft on the Base blockchain. The world of DeFi is fascinating, yet it seems that every time we take a step forward, we encounter an obstacle that reminds us of the challenges that come with this new frontier.


A security breach, stemming from unchecked loan agreements on the Base blockchain, has led to the estimated loss of around one million dollars.

The event, spanning multiple hours, was shared by the cybersecurity firm Cyvers Alerts in a Reddit-style post on October 25th.

An intruder took advantage of a weakness in the Wrapped Ether (WETH) smart contract system, managed to control the value, and ultimately drained the resources.

Base blockchain exploit leads to $1M theft — Cyvers Alerts

Price manipulation exploit

In simpler terms, an initial questionable transfer drained approximately $993,534 from the Base blockchain’s unconfirmed loan agreements that were not yet verified.

In a different phrasing: The majority of the stolen money was transferred to the Ethereum network, and subsequently, about 202,549 dollars were placed into the confidential Tornado Cash platform. An extra sum of 455,127 dollars was obtained using the same method of exploit.

During an interview in written format with CryptoMoon, Hakan Unal, a senior Security Operations Center (SOC) leader at Cyvers Alerts, outlined the weakness that was targeted during the incident.

“The oracle used by these contracts was not robust, relying only on a single pair with a limited liquidity of ~$400K, making it susceptible to price swings that could be manipulated.”

Security implications and prevention

Examining questionable loan agreements without proper verification during a crisis highlights the potential dangers hidden within Decentralized Finance (DeFi) systems, especially those lacking robust safety protocols.

Unal suggested that a more trustworthy, varied predictive system with greater liquidity could be employed to thwart comparable assaults in the future, specifically for assets such as WETH. This is intended to minimize the risk of price manipulation.

“Enhanced due diligence for lending contract verification, particularly on oracles used, can mitigate these risks.”

Who’s to blame?

Unal told CryptoMoon that “the perpetrator successfully fled with the funds taken by exploiting the vulnerability in the price manipulation scheme.

“Responsibility likely falls on the entity managing the unverified lending contracts, as well as those responsible for choosing an insufficiently secure oracle for price verification.”

The attacker is yet to be identified and has successfully absconded with the stolen funds. 

This event underscores the importance of enhancing security measures on Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms, so as to safeguard users’ assets and verify contracts accurately in the future, thereby reducing the likelihood of such incidents recurring.

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2024-10-25 15:21