Chainlink Nodes Spent 700 ETH to Process Requests During Spam Attack

Nine Chainlink node operators, playing a pivotal role in the DeFi segment, came under attack. As a result, 700 ETH were spent from the project’s hot wallets, The Block

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A source familiar with the situation said that on August 30 attackers sent price-data requests to the nodes. As a result, their operators were forced to incur substantial Ethereum transaction fees.

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The Certus One node operator lost 20 ETH in the attack, worth about $7,500 at the time.

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Representatives from Chainlink confirmed the attack, but declined to specify its scale. They noted that on Sunday there was a brief spam attempt that lasted about two hours.

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Chainlink emphasised that the attackers’ plan failed, “the attack did not substantially affect the operation of the network or its price feeds”.

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“The failure of the attempt to spam the Chainlink network demonstrates how resilient it has become.”

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Chainlink oracles deliver data to smart contracts on the blockchain via node operators. The latter receive compensation for their work in LINK tokens.

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The attacker could execute the attack by using the operators’ unused gas to issue Chi tokens via the 1inch.Exchange decentralized exchange aggregator.

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Chi is a tokenised form of gas. The token allows hedging the risks of excessive gas-price volatility.

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As soon as the attacker submits a request for price data, the corresponding node responds, which “spends a lot of gas”. The organiser of the attack managed to earn “a portion of that gas”, the publication’s source explained.

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Taking advantage of high gas prices, the attacker issued Chi tokens. They then swapped the coins for more liquid ETH and used the Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash to cover their tracks.

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Chainlink plans to expand oracle capabilities using DECO, a solution developed at Cornell University.

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