According to a Feb. 9 research posted on X (previously Twitter), Web3 security firm Blowfish has discovered two new Solana drainers that are capable of bit-flip attacks.Even after a user’s private key was used to sign a transaction, the drainers known as “Aqua” and “Vanish” were detected altering a conditional within on-chain data.The drainers’ script, according to Blowfish, may be purchased on marketplaces that provide scam-as-a-service tools.The drainers’ strategy for data flipping and money theft was exposed by the Blowfish team.An dApp on Solana may be granted permission to submit a transaction.“A drainer could flip that conditional at any time if the dApp’s onchain program contains a conditional that permits it to send the user SOL or drain their account,” the text states.
Users don’t initially see the drainers.A transaction that seems legitimate is signed by the victim.But the drainer momentarily withholds the transaction after getting the signature.“They then reverse the dApp’s conditional; it appears to send SOL but actually takes it,” according to a different transaction.
“There’s a completely new breed of scams on the loose, and they’re not like anything we’ve seen before!
Imagine: a transaction that appears safe when you sign it, but the moment it’s submitted on chain, it suddenly drains your assets.”
An exploitation technique known as a “bit-flip attack” involves an attacker manipulating a system by altering the value of certain bits in encrypted data.It enables the attacker to change the message that is encrypted without having the encryption key.Sometimes, when a message is encrypted, an attacker can alter it predictably by flipping particular bits.The Solana ecosystem is the target of an increasing number of cryptocurrency drainers.Chainalysis reports that as of January, there were over 6,000 members of one of the biggest internet forums dedicated to a single Solana wallet drainer kit.The most effective draining kits can target numerous assets in different ways, according to Brian Carter, senior intelligence analyst at Chainalysis, who previously spoke with Cointelegraph.
It is reported that the Blowfish team is keeping an eye on on-chain activities and has set up protections to automatically block the recently discovered drainers.