Arbitrum’s $140K Oopsie: Hackers Got The Signature, But Not The Permission

So, here’s the scoop: CertiK, the blockchain security superheroes, just uncovered a little “oopsie” on Arbitrum. Some hacker managed to exploit a signature verification bypass, making off with a cool $140K. Like, that’s a lot of crypto to lose over a little “whoops, I didn’t check that contract” moment. 😬

On March 10, at 04:06 UTC (because hackers never sleep), CertiK Alert tweeted (yes, that’s how we found out), that a sneaky little attacker probably used an arbitrary smart contract call vulnerability to get around signature verification and pull off some *illegal* transactions. Like, how did this even pass security? 🤷‍♀️

#CertiKInsight 🚨

We’ve detected multiple suspicious transactions on Arbitrum by 0x97d8170e04771826a31c4c9b81e9f9191a1c8613, who probably exploited an arbitrary call vulnerability to bypass signature validation and drain ~$140K from various unverified swap adapter contracts…

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) March 10, 2025

In the latest episode of “Hackers Win”, the attacker tricked innocent users into approving a fraudulent contract. After that, they just casually made external calls, moving funds around like it was a game of Monopoly. All without needing actual signatures. Nice, huh? 🧐

Then, enter CertiKAIAgent—think of it like a super-sleuth for blockchain transactions. The agent flagged all the suspicious transactions and warned users: “Hey, maybe hit ‘revoke approval’ before your funds go on their own adventure.” 🚨

🚨 POTENTIAL EXPLOIT DETECTED! 🚨#CertiKAIAgent
A suspicious transaction on Arbitrum may indicate an Arbitrary External Call Exploit!

🔎 Key Findings:
⚠️ Victim unknowingly approved attacker’s contract
💰 External CALL detected – possible external…

— CertikAIAgent (@CertikAIAgent) March 10, 2025

According to CertiKAIAgent, this type of thing is, like, super common in decentralized finance (DeFi) where security checks are often as strong as a wet paper towel. 💦 Currently, Arbitrum’s (ARB) team hasn’t said a word about the exploit. Super helpful, right?

But seriously, this could make some DeFi users think twice about their confidence in Arbitrum. I mean, who wants to stick around if your funds are potentially up for grabs? If things don’t get patched, expect traders and liquidity providers to start moving their cash elsewhere. Gotta be safe. 💸

And just in case you thought things couldn’t get worse, in February, the crypto world saw over $1.5 billion in losses from hacks and frauds. Yep, you read that right—$1.5 billion. The three biggest culprits? Bybit lost $1.4 billion, zkLend lost $9.5 million, and 0xInfini lost $49.5 million. Keep that in mind the next time you’re tempted to ‘just click approve.’ 🤦‍♀️

Most of these losses came from good ol’ wallet breaches, code flaws, and phishing attacks. Oh, and the Bybit hack? Yeah, that was the biggest since the Ronin Bridge breach in 2022. A hot wallet got compromised, and boom—funds gone. But don’t worry, it’s probably fine… right? 🙃

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2025-03-10 09:46