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A cross-chain bridge linking the XRP Ledger to the Coreum network lost nearly 200,000 XRP after an attacker exploited a flaw in its deposit verification system. The drain took place over 97 minutes on August 9 and reduced the bridge’s XRP reserves from about 200,410 XRP to roughly 493.5 XRP.
The incident did not involve a compromise of the XRP Ledger itself or theft of the bridge’s private keys. Instead, the attacker manipulated the bridge’s relayer logic so transactions that did not send XRP to the reserve wallet were recorded as legitimate deposits.
Fake Deposits Triggered Real XRP Withdrawals
The bridge normally locks XRP on the XRP Ledger before issuing an equivalent bridged asset on Coreum, whose ecosystem was rebranded as tx earlier this year. The vulnerability allowed the attacker to receive bridged XRP without depositing the real tokens that should have backed it.
The attacker then used those unbacked tokens to withdraw genuine XRP from the reserve wallet. On-chain analysis found that 199,916 XRP left the bridge through 94 payments, with withdrawals receiving approvals from 17 of the bridge’s 28 relayers.
Tx Halts Bridge and Patches Vulnerability
Tx said it halted the bridge after the attack and identified the software flaw that allowed the fake deposits to pass its checks. The company has since patched the vulnerable code, hired blockchain forensics specialists and filed a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The company said:
“On August 9, the tx XRPL bridge was exploited and XRP was drained from the bridge’s reserve wallet on the XRP Ledger.”
XRP Ledger Was Not Compromised
The flaw was located in the bridge infrastructure rather than the XRP Ledger’s underlying protocol. The relayer software processed transactions carrying the expected bridge memo but did not first verify that the bridge address was actually the destination.
Tx has not yet detailed how affected users will be compensated. The bridge remains halted while the company evaluates potential remedies and continues tracing the stolen XRP with outside investigators.
