Terra‘s (LUNA) Blockchain network was temporarily halted today following a reentrancy attack. Approximately $4 million worth of various altcoins were stolen in the attack. The attackers exploited a vulnerability that was reported in April but resurfaced after a June update.
Terra Network Disruption Quickly Resolved
Following the attack, operations on Terra’s Blockchain network were halted at block height 11430400, and an emergency patch was applied. This patch was completed at 07:19 AM local time to close the security vulnerability. More than 67% of the validators supporting Terra’s network upgraded their nodes to prevent such attacks from recurring.
According to security firm Beosin, the attack resulted in the theft of $3.5 million worth of USDC stablecoin, $500,000 worth of USDT stablecoin, 2.7 BTC, and over 60 million units of Astroport’s ASTRO token. Following the attack, ASTRO token lost 56% of its value, while Terra’s Luna Classic (LUNC) token dropped 3.4% in the last 24 hours.
Reentrancy Attack and Its Effects
Reentrancy attack is a common type of vulnerability that allows attackers to repeatedly call a protocol or network to steal assets. The attack is executed by allowing a smart contract address to interact with a user’s wallet address. Beosin noted that this attack exploited a reentrancy vulnerability in the ibc-hooks’ timeout callback.
This incident has caused serious security concerns among the Terra community and developers. The community advocates for stricter measures to close security gaps and prevent similar incidents in the future. Additionally, the Terra team has committed to taking necessary steps to enhance network security and regain user trust.
Such attacks indicate that Blockchain technology may still have security weak points. While the crypto world tends to implement stronger security measures to protect assets and strengthen systems, attackers continue to target the ecosystem with new methods.
