How much was lost in the HLG hack?

The HLG hack resulted in $61K in losses on October 28, 2022.

What attack technique was used in the HLG exploit?

The HLG exploit utilized Rugpull. Understanding this attack vector is critical for smart contract auditors and developers building secure DeFi protocols.

How can developers prevent similar smart contract attacks?

Preventing smart contract hacks requires a combination of secure coding practices, thorough security audits, and understanding common attack vectors like reentrancy, oracle manipulation, and access control flaws. Smart Contract Hacking (SCH) provides hands-on training to help developers and auditors identify and prevent vulnerabilities before deployment.

HLG Hack

TOTAL LOST $61K

Low Oct 28, 2022 Rugpull

Affected Chain 2022 Incident surface

Recovered - No recovery reported

All-Time Rank #1675 By amount stolen

Protocol Type Exit Scam/Rugpull Target category

Incident Overview

Quick Summary

HLG token was rugpulled. The initial token holder removed liquidity and made a profit of 60,785 $USD.

Details of the Exploit

HLD is a BEP20 token trading on PancakeSwap. The initial token holder removed liquidity for 60,785 $USD. The funds were transferred to several EOA addresses.

Block Data Reference

Scammer address:

https://bscscan.com/address/0x5f48c32c…6c9e3f

Liquidity removal transaction:

https://bscscan.com/tx/0xa8cf30a1…e16534

Incident Report

Protocol / Project HLG

Date of Incident October 28, 2022

Attack Technique Rugpull

Classification Token

Primary Source View Post-Mortem

Protocol Information

Protocol Type Exit Scam/Rugpull

Affected Token HLG

Team Anonymous

Source Code Verified On-Chain

What the Attacker Needed to Succeed

Understanding the prerequisites for this type of attack helps auditors identify protocols that are most at risk and helps developers build better defenses.

Technical Knowledge Deep understanding of rugpull and Solidity and EVM internals

Capital Required Seed capital to cover gas and initial position setup

On-Chain Access Ability to interact with smart contracts and deploy a custom exploit contract

Protocol Analysis Identification of the exploitable vulnerability in HLG's contract logic - root cause: token

Execution Speed Precise transaction ordering and timing to exploit the vulnerability within a single atomic block

Obfuscation Plan A strategy to launder and move stolen funds - typically through mixers, cross-chain bridges, or decentralized DEX swaps to resist tracing

What Auditors Should Check

Could this have been caught in audit? Hard to catch — private key / OpSec failures are outside smart contract audit scope

If you're auditing a protocol with similar architecture to HLG, these are the critical security checks that could have prevented this incident (October 2022).

Verify all logic paths related to Rugpull are guarded by proper access controls and input validation
Review privileged functions (owner, admin, governance) for potential abuse vectors - centralization risks should be documented and bounded with timelocks or multi-sigs

Master these auditing techniques with hands-on labs and real exploit scenarios in the Smart Contract Hacking course.

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Sources & References

01
Source 1 https://twitter.com/CertiKAlert/status/1585892967767851008

Threat Assessment

Severity Level

LOW

Attack Vector Rugpull
Root Cause Token
Year 2022

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