Bittensor Reveals Vulnerability Behind $8 Million Exploit In New Report – Details

As an experienced cybersecurity analyst, I strongly believe that the recent wallet hacks on Bittensor are a stark reminder of the importance of robust security measures in the blockchain industry. The attacks, resulting in losses worth millions of dollars, have left many investors concerned and questioning the safety of their investments.


Recently, Bittorus, a notable AI-centric initiative, had to halt its network functions due to a string of wallet breaches. The theft led to the disappearance of over $8 million in value represented by TAO, which is Bittorus’s native digital currency.

I’ve recently encountered an unfortunate event where a significant breach in a digital wallet resulted in a theft of approximately $11 million. Surprisingly, this incident follows closely on the heels of another similar attack that occurred just a month prior. In response to these events, the Bittensor team has provided a comprehensive report, shedding much-needed light on the details and context surrounding these attacks.

Root Causes Of Bittensor’s Wallet Hack

Based on the findings from the report, I implemented protective measures at 7:41 PM UTC on Wednesday. Specifically, I shielded the Opentensor Chain Validators with a firewall and engaged safe mode for Subtensor in response to the cyberattack that targeted several members within the Bittensor community.

According to the attack sequence, the hacker began moving funds from one wallet to another, which was subsequently identified by the OpenTensor Foundation.

A “crisis center” was allegedly set up to deal with the unusual surge in transfer activity. Subsequently, the Opentensor chain validators were shielded with a firewall and put in safe mode, thereby halting all transactions. This move enabled a thorough assessment of the attack situation.

One potential way to rephrase this statement in clear and natural language could be: The source of the recent cyber-attack was identified as the PyPi Package Manager’s 6.12.2 version, which saw the malicious upload of a harmful package, putting users’ security at risk.

In disguise as a harmless Bittorent file, this malicious package hid dangerous code. Deceived users who believed they were unlocking their coldkeys with it, unwittingly transmitted the decrypted bytecode to an attacker-owned remote server instead.

It’s thought that the vulnerability impacted users of Bittorent version 6.12.2, who carried out decryption tasks related to their hotkeys or coldkeys.

People who downloaded the Bittorney PyPI package during the time frame of May 22, 7:14 PM UTC to May 29, 6:47 PM UTC, and carried out necessary tasks, may have been affected as well.

Security Precautions Advised

The OTF team promptly addressed the issue by taking down the harmful 6.12.2 package from the PyPi repository. At present, no additional vulnerabilities have been discovered. However, an in-depth examination of all possible entry points is currently underway.

As a member of the Bittensor team, I have worked closely with various exchanges to share critical information regarding potential cyberattacks. Our collaboration aims to identify the source of the attack, track down the attacker, and if possible, retrieve any compromised funds.

As I, Opentensor’s researcher, approach the final stages of our code review, we intend to gradually restart the regular functioning of the Bittensor blockchain. This means that transactions will once again be processed and validated.

To ensure safety, the team recommends creating new digital wallets and moving funds over once the blockchain becomes active. Additionally, it’s important to update Bittensor to its most recent version in order to benefit from improved security features.

Bittensor intends to collaborate with the PyPi maintainers to examine the cause of the recent security issue, and will make improvements to strengthen our defenses against similar occurrences in the future.

The improvements involve more rigorous checks and authentication procedures for PyPi package submissions, regular security assessments, adoption of top-tier security guidelines for the community, and closer scrutiny of package uploads and downloads with enhanced logging.

Bittensor Reveals Vulnerability Behind $8 Million Exploit In New Report – Details

As I analyze the current market situation, I observe that the value of the project’s native token, TAO, is priced at $224 at this moment. Sadly, within the past 30 days, it has experienced a decrease of approximately 42%. Nevertheless, I want to highlight that this token has achieved impressive growth of around 386% since the beginning of the year.

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2024-07-05 11:12