The Dogecoin network was recently shaken by a significant exploit. The vulnerability was discovered and exploited by a hacker, which caused a significant majority of Dogecoin’s nodes to crash. The information was first revealed by Blockchair, a blockchain explorer that tracks and analyzes blockchain data.
Earlier this week, a sharp drop in the number of Dogecoin nodes was reported. The numbers plummeted from 647 to a mere 205, marking a decrease of approximately 69%. This sudden drop raised alarm bells, prompting the blockchain explorer to investigate the matter further. According to Blockchair, “Our monitoring made us aware that the vulnerability appears to have been exploited, and almost 69% of the Dogecoin network has crashed. Blockchair shows the number of public nodes. Before, it was 647, and at the time of writing it is just 205.”
In a surprising turn of events, Andreas Kohl, a Bitcoin sidechain developer, claimed responsibility for the exploit. Kohl revealed in a thread on a social media platform that he was able to take down a majority of the Dogecoin network using a relatively old laptop. “I used a publicly disclosed vulnerability [by BTC developer Tobias Ruck] to take down 69% of the Dogecoin network from an old ThinkPad in rural El Salvador,” he stated.
Interestingly, Kohl noted that the majority of Dogecoin users were oblivious to the exploit. “Only nodes that weren’t on the latest version were affected –which was the majority of the network, excluding CEXs (centralized exchanges) and most other major custodians – hence why most doge users never noticed, not that many understand self-custody,” he explained.
Despite the significant disturbance in the Dogecoin network, the cryptocurrency’s market performance remained relatively stable. At the time of writing, Dogecoin’s market price stands at $0.413, indicating a modest decrease of 4.7% over the past 24 hours.
The exploit has triggered concerns about the security of digital assets and the robustness of blockchain networks. Lessons from this incident could potentially pave the way for enhanced security measures and more stringent monitoring systems to proactively detect vulnerabilities and prevent such exploits in the future.
As of the time of writing, some Dogecoin nodes have recovered, with the number of active nodes currently standing at 331 globally. However, the incident has underscored the need for constant vigilance and regular updates in cryptocurrency networks to prevent such vulnerabilities from being exploited.
