Failed Partial Payments Exploit Attempt Highlights Bitfinex's Robust Security Measures
Summary:
An alleged movement of almost $15 billion XRP from an unknown wallet to Bitfinex, as highlighted by blockchain tracker Whale Alert, was a failed "partial payments exploit" attempt, according to Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino. The attempt, based on the premise that Bitfinex had incorrectly configured its software, didn't succeed. Bitfinex correctly processes the transaction data fields, thwarting the exploiter's attempt to gain credit for a falsely inflated transaction.
An alleged movement of XRP (XRP) valued at nearly $15 billion from an unidentified wallet to Bitfinex on January 14 didn't actually transpire. This was supposedly an unsuccessful attempt at a "partial payments exploit", as stated by Paolo Ardoino, Chief Technology Officer of Bitfinex. The transaction was initially spotlighted by the blockchain tracking account Whale Alert, which reported a 25.6 billion XRP transfer—almost half of XRP’s circulating supply—from an indistinct wallet to Bitfinex. However, Whale Alert later removed the post, mentioning an error in accurately interpreting the Ripple node response, leading to incorrect posts.
Ardoino elaborated via social media, suggesting that an individual had tried to breach Bitfinex's system utilizing a "Partial Payments Exploit". The anticipated attack was grounded in the assumption that the exchange had wrongfully configured its software to facilitate partial payments.
The modus operandi of a partial payments exploit is contingent on the assumption that an establishment has an incorrectly set up system that only interprets the “amount” field of an XRP transaction, which has been raised to an extreme level. In contrast, the exploiter forwards a significantly smaller amount as outlined in another transaction field, intending to get credit for the marginal difference. Nevertheless, Ardoino stated that the attack was ineffective as "Bitfinex correctly processes the 'delivered_amount' data field".
According to blockchain information, it appears the attacker made a similar attempt on Binance with a transfer attempt of 58.9 billion XRP, which ended in failure too.
Published At
1/15/2024 5:50:51 AM
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