Tx Cross-Chain Bridge Hacked for 200,000 XRP

The cross-chain bridge operated by tx, an RWA platform, was hacked on August 9, resulting in the theft of 200,000 XRP. The attack lasted only 97 minutes, but its impact is significant.

The investigation into the hack found that the attacker exploited a critical flaw in the bridge's deposit verification logic, rather than compromising any cryptographic keys. This vulnerability allowed the hacker to simulate deposits by transferring wrapped CORE tokens between addresses under their control and attaching text memos with destination details for the Coreum network.

Validators read the information from the memo, but because the code lacked a recipient verification mechanism, the system did not check whether the funds had actually been sent to the bridge's wallet. As a result, the bridge issued unbacked tokens, and a quorum of 17 multisignature keys held by relay nodes automatically approved their withdrawal.

The tx team has halted bridge operations while dealing with the consequences of the incident and has fixed the verification bug. The company emphasized that the bridge's smart contracts had undergone several rounds of internal and independent audits, none of which identified the flaw.