Litecoin Faces Attack Due to MWEB Protocol Vulnerability
- A denial-of-service attack led to a 13-block chain reorganization on Litecoin, reversing approximately 32 minutes of network activity.
- The exploit utilized a vulnerability in the Mimblewimble Extension Block (MWEB) protocol.
- The consensus vulnerability was privately patched between March 19 and March 26, a month prior to the attack.
- Blockchain data revealed that the attacker pre-funded a wallet through a Binance withdrawal, configured for LTC to ETH swaps.
- The Litecoin Foundation announced that the bug was fully patched and the network is operating normally as of Sunday morning.
The incident highlights vulnerabilities in older proof-of-work networks like Litecoin, where independent mining pools control upgrade timing, creating potential security gaps during critical updates.
Despite the network’s recovery after a brief disruption, the attack underscores risks associated with delayed patch dissemination, especially given that some miners ran outdated code during the exploit period.(Source)
