Kraken vs CertiK: Crypto Bounty Hunter Becomes Crypto Bounty Hunted
Crypto exchange Kraken recently faced a severe security breach that has drawn significant attention within the crypto community. The incident revolves around a critical vulnerability exploited by individuals associated with CertiK, a blockchain security firm, leading to a substantial financial impact and a heated public dispute.
The issue first came to light on June 5, 2024, when Kraken detected an anomaly in its deposit system. Over the next several days, multiple large deposits and withdrawals occurred, exploiting the vulnerability. The exploit allowed users to artificially inflate their balances and withdraw large sums of cryptocurrency without fully completing the deposit process.
By June 9, 2024, Kraken had received an alert from a security researcher participating in their Bug Bounty program. The alert detailed an “extremely critical” bug, prompting Kraken’s security team to assemble and address the issue urgently.
“Within minutes, we discovered an isolated bug that allowed a malicious attacker, under the right circumstances, to initiate a deposit and receive funds in their account without fully completing the deposit,” Nick Percoco, Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, posted. “We triaged this vulnerability as Critical and within an hour, 47 minutes to be exact, our team of experts had mitigated the issue.”
CertiK, the security firm involved, provided their perspective on the events through a series of posts on X. They conducted a thorough investigation into Kraken’s deposit system, revealing that the exchange failed critical security tests, potentially leading to millions of dollars in fabricated deposits being withdrawn.
In their public disclosures, CertiK stated, “The Kraken exchange failed all tests, indicating that Kraken’s defense in-depth system is compromised on multiple fronts.” CertiK’s testing revealed continuous large withdrawals of fabricated tokens without triggering any alerts until the incident was reported.
“Do not exploit”
The situation escalated when Kraken accused CertiK of unethical behavior. Percoco claimed that CertiK’s employees refused to return the withdrawn funds unless Kraken provided a speculated amount that could have been exploited. He described this demand as “extortion” rather than responsible security research.
“Our Bug Bounty program has clear rules: do not exploit more than you need to prove the vulnerability, show your work, and return extracted funds immediately. Ignoring these rules and extorting the company revokes your ‘license to hack’ and makes you criminals,” Percoco asserted.
CertiK refuted these allegations, maintaining that they had consistently assured Kraken of their intention to return the funds. They emphasized that all funds held by them had been returned based on their records, but the amounts did not match Kraken’s demands.
“Since Kraken has not provided repayment addresses and the requested amount was mismatched, we are transferring the funds based on our records to an account that Kraken will be able to access,” CertiK said in its post.
The crypto community has been divided over the issue. Some, observers on X like @functi0nZer0, criticized CertiK’s handling of the situation, particularly their movement of funds through Tornado Cash, a mixing service often associated with obfuscating transaction origins.
Adam Cochran, a well-known figure in the crypto space, raised concerns about potential deeper issues within CertiK. He questioned whether CertiK’s security research team might have been compromised, pointing to patterns similar to those used by the notorious Lazarus Group, known for their cyberattacks on crypto protocols.
Information for this briefing was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
