A hacker exploited the Polkadot-based cross-chain interoperability protocol Hyperbridge, netting about $237,000 and elevating renewed safety considerations about blockchain bridge infrastructure.
An attacker minted 1 billion bridged Polkadot (DOT) tokens in a single transaction on Hyperbridge, in accordance with blockchain information shared by cybersecurity platform CertiK.
CertiK stated the hacker managed to mint the tokens after he “slipped by a solid message to vary the admin of Polkadot token contract on Ethereum.” Nonetheless, the skinny liquidity on Ethereum’s bridged DOT pool was overwhelmed by the 1 billion bridged DOT tokens, shrinking the attacker’s earnings to simply 108.2 Ether (ETH), value round $237,000, after the swap.
Cybersecurity analysis firm Blocksec Falcon stated the doubtless root reason for the exploit was a Merkle Mountain Vary (MMR) proof replay vulnerability attributable to lacking proof-to-request binding, although the ultimate root trigger has not but been confirmed by the protocol.
Hyperbridge paused operations after the assault whereas the group labored on an improve, with contributor Web3 Thinker saying the preliminary analysis pointed to a malicious proof that fooled the protocol’s Merkle tree verifier. Blockchain bridges let customers transfer tokens and information between completely different networks.
The exploit is notable as a result of Hyperbridge has marketed itself as a proof-based interoperability layer constructed to ship “full node safety” for crosschain bridges. The incident additionally follows Aethir’s disclosure final week that it had contained a separate bridge exploit and saved person losses under $90,000.
Cointelegraph has contacted Hyperbridge for touch upon the basis reason for the exploit.
The exploit solely affected DOT on Ethereum that was bridged by Hyperbridge, whereas native DOT tokens and the broader Polkadot ecosystem stay unaffected, Polkadot famous in a Monday X publish.
The native DOT token briefly dipped to a each day low of $1.16 on Monday, earlier than recovering to commerce above $1.19 on the time of writing, in accordance with CoinGecko.
Hackers exploit SubQuery community for $130,000
Safety incidents proceed to hit crypto protocols regardless of a pointy year-over-year drop in DeFi exploit losses.
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On Sunday, the information indexing protocol SubQuery Community was additionally exploited for round $130,000 resulting from lacking entry management information that uncovered the code written over two years in the past.
The vulnerability enabled the attacker to set his personal contract because the withdrawal goal for staking rewards, blockchain safety auditor Pashov stated in a Sunday X publish.
Hackers stole over $168 million from 34 decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols within the first quarter of 2026, marking a major decline from the $1.58 billion stolen within the first quarter of 2025, when the file $1.4 billion Bybit hack occurred.
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