ANKR BRIDGE HACK: 5 FAKE RECEIPTS, 5 VALID SIGNATURES.
Another DeFi security nightmare. The Ankr cross-chain bridge reportedly suffered a $304,500 exploit.
What happened?
• The attacker referenced a legitimate Optimism transaction.
• Submitted 5 forged cross-chain receipts.
• Modified the recipient, token, and withdrawal amount.
• All 5 receipts carried valid signatures from trusted bridge signers.
The critical flaw: The withdrawal function released assets without independently verifying the actual event on the source chain.
The source of the unauthorized signatures is still under investigation. There is no confirmation that the signers themselves were compromised.
This is exactly why valid signatures don't automatically mean valid transactions.
A bridge can have trusted signers, but if it fails to verify what actually happened on the source chain, attackers may still find a way through.
Five receipts passed verification. Common sense apparently didn't.
How many more bridge exploits will it take before cross-chain security becomes a priority rather than an afterthought?
Another DeFi security nightmare. The Ankr cross-chain bridge reportedly suffered a $304,500 exploit.
What happened?
• The attacker referenced a legitimate Optimism transaction.
• Submitted 5 forged cross-chain receipts.
• Modified the recipient, token, and withdrawal amount.
• All 5 receipts carried valid signatures from trusted bridge signers.
The critical flaw: The withdrawal function released assets without independently verifying the actual event on the source chain.
The source of the unauthorized signatures is still under investigation. There is no confirmation that the signers themselves were compromised.
This is exactly why valid signatures don't automatically mean valid transactions.
A bridge can have trusted signers, but if it fails to verify what actually happened on the source chain, attackers may still find a way through.
Five receipts passed verification. Common sense apparently didn't.
How many more bridge exploits will it take before cross-chain security becomes a priority rather than an afterthought?
