Kyber Network Hack

TOTAL LOST $265K
Low Other

Summarize with AI

ChatGPT Perplexity Claude Grok
Affected Chain 2022 Incident surface
Recovered - No recovery reported
All-Time Rank #1189 By amount stolen
Auditors 1 Prior security audit

Incident Overview

Quick Summary

The Kyber Network project was exploited by a hacker who took advantage of a vulnerability in the front end taking a profit of ~$265k.

Details of the Exploit

Kyber Network is a decentralized, blockchain-based protocol that aggregates liquidity and enables the exchange of tokens without an intermediary.

The hacker managed to add malicious code to Google Tag Manager (GTM), which performed an approve, which gave the hacker access to user's funds. The script added by hacker's team was specifically targeting whale wallets.

Block Data Reference

Involved addresses:

- Scammer address:

- Polygon: https://polygonscan.com/address/0x57A72cE4…7Dff80

- Ethereum: https://etherscan.io/address/0x57A72cE4…7Dff80

- Addresses supplying native tokens to hacker addresses: https://etherscan.io/address/0x9bc22f7e…23fdd6

Incident Report

Protocol / Project Kyber Network
Date of Incident
Attack Technique Other
Classification Exchange (DEX)
Primary Source View Post-Mortem

Protocol Information

Protocol Type Services
Affected Token KNC
Official Website kyberswap.com/swap
Protocol Twitter/X @KyberNetwork
Team Anonymous
Source Code Unverified

Market Context at Time of Hack

Token Categories
DeFi Scaling Storage Coinbase Ventures Portfolio Osmosis Ecosystem Base Ecosystem Modular Blockchain Data Availability
Protocol Links
GitHub Discord Reddit Telegram

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 other 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 Kyber Network's contract logic - root cause: exchange (dex)
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? Likely — with a thorough Other audit checklist and test coverage
Audited by Audit Report 1 — still lost $265K. Prior audits don't guarantee safety, especially after post-audit code changes.

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

  • Verify all logic paths related to Other 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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Security Audit History

Sources & References

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