How much was lost in the Mixin Network hack?

The Mixin Network hack resulted in $200M in losses on September 23, 2023.

What attack technique was used in the Mixin Network exploit?

The Mixin Network exploit utilized Database Attack / Other. 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.

Mixin Network Hack

TOTAL LOST $200M

Critical #45 All-Time Sep 23, 2023 Database Attack / Other mixin

Affected Chain mixin Incident surface

Recovered - No recovery reported

All-Time Rank #45 By amount stolen

Auditors 1 Prior security audit

Incident Overview

Quick Summary

Mixin Network was exploited due to a cloud service vulnerability, resulting in a loss of $142,041,764 in digital assets across Ethereum and Bitcoin chains.

Details of the Exploit

Mixin Network is a decentralized network for transferring digital assets. On September 23, 2023, the network was exploited due to a cloud service vulnerability. The attacker managed to steal funds from multiple addresses on both the Ethereum and Bitcoin chains.

The stolen funds were then swapped to DAI and Ethereum on the attacker's wallets on the Ethereum network, totaling approximately $118.66M as of September 26th. In the Bitcoin chain, the attacker accumulated 891 BTC, worth around $23,381,764. The total loss across both chains was approximately $142,041,764.

Block Data Reference

Funds Holders as of Sep 26, 2023:

- https://etherscan.io/address/0x3B5fb9d9…20041e

- https://etherscan.io/address/0x52E86988…13104c

- https://etherscan.io/address/0xB5d631A7…67Eafa

- https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/addresses/btc/bc1qq7uefmz6nng5c4dzs9mwrxxyh9sxg5cjg85hesf

Funds Transfer Transaction Examples:

- https://blockstream.info/tx/4354e56e2164fb4c67f64c551cfafc5b23a80d60d6a3045186c73dd77b2f8615

- https://etherscan.io/tx/0xb702128a…efa530

Incident Report

Protocol / Project Mixin Network

Date of Incident September 23, 2023

Affected Chain(s) mixin

Attack Technique Database Attack / Other

Classification Infrastructure / Other

Primary Source View Post-Mortem

Protocol Information

Protocol Type AI Agents

Official Website mixin.network/

Protocol Twitter/X @MixinKernel

Team Anonymous

Source Code Unverified

Market Context at Time of Hack

Token Categories

AI & Big Data Privacy Ethereum Ecosystem Layer 2 YZi Labs Portfolio Hashkey Capital Portfolio Animoca Brands Portfolio BNB Chain Ecosystem

Protocol Links

Discord

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 database attack / other and Solidity and EVM internals

Capital Required Seed capital to cover gas and initial position setup

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

Protocol Analysis Identification of the exploitable vulnerability in Mixin Network's contract logic - root cause: infrastructure / other

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 Database Attack / Other audit checklist and test coverage

Audited by Audit Report 1 — still lost $200M. Prior audits don't guarantee safety, especially after post-audit code changes.

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

Verify all logic paths related to Database Attack / 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

Audit Report 1 Report

Sources & References

01
Source 1 https://twitter.com/MixinKernel/status/1706139175018529139
02
Web Archive https://archive.ph/pqscN
03
Reference https://twitter.com/DeDotFiSecurity/status/1706177139677057297?s=20

Threat Assessment

Severity Level

CRITICAL

Attack Vector Database Attack / Other
Root Cause Infrastructure / Other
Year 2023

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