How much was lost in the Level Perps hack?

The Level Perps hack resulted in $1.0M in losses on May 01, 2023.

What attack technique was used in the Level Perps exploit?

The Level Perps exploit utilized Referral Claims Logic Exploit. 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.

Level Perps Hack

TOTAL LOST $1.0M

Medium May 01, 2023 Referral Claims Logic Exploit bsc

Affected Chain bsc Incident surface

Recovered - No recovery reported

All-Time Rank #833 By amount stolen

Auditors 3 Prior security audits

Incident Overview

Level Finance - Decentralized Perpetual Exchange.

Incident Report

Protocol / Project Level Perps

Date of Incident May 01, 2023

Affected Chain(s) bsc

Attack Technique Referral Claims Logic Exploit

Classification Protocol Logic

Primary Source View Post-Mortem

Protocol Information

Protocol Type Derivatives

Smart Contract Language Solidity

Official Website app.level.finance

Protocol Twitter/X @Level__Finance

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 referral claims logic exploit and Solidity and EVM internals

Capital Required Seed capital to cover gas and initial position setup

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

Protocol Analysis Identification of the exploitable vulnerability in Level Perps's contract logic - root cause: protocol logic

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 Referral Claims Logic Exploit audit checklist and test coverage

Audited by Audit Report 1, Audit Report 2, Audit Report 3 — still lost $1.0M. Prior audits don't guarantee safety, especially after post-audit code changes.

If you're auditing a protocol with similar architecture to Level Perps, these are the critical security checks that could have prevented this incident (May 2023).

Verify all logic paths related to Referral Claims Logic Exploit 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

Audit Report 1 Report
Audit Report 2 Report
Audit Report 3 Report

Sources & References

01
Source 1 https://twitter.com/peckshield/status/1653149493133729794?t=ojjC…

Threat Assessment

Severity Level

MEDIUM

Attack Vector Referral Claims Logic Exploit
Root Cause Protocol Logic
Year 2023

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