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On December 12, Andreas Kohl, co-founder of Bitcoin sidechain Sequentia, claimed responsibility for disabling 69% of the Dogecoin network using an old laptop from El Salvador. Kohl's exploited a vulnerability discovered by security researcher Tobias Ruck to carry out the attack.
A Flaw That Could Halt the Entire DOGE Network
According to data from block seatsDogecoin previously had 647 active nodes. After the attack, the number decreased significantly to 315.
Vulnerability
On December 4, an account on the X platform (formerly Twitter) was named DOGE Efficiency Department publicly disclose the so-called critical vulnerability DogeReaper. This flaw allows attackers to remotely shut down Dogecoin nodes, potentially bringing down the entire network.
The vulnerability has been likened to the “Death Note” from the famous Japanese anime and manga series of the same name. By exploiting DogeReaper, an attacker can cause a segmentation fault error on a node simply by targeting its address. A segmentation fault occurs when a program attempts to access a restricted memory segment, prompting the operating system to terminate the program for security reasons, thereby causing the node to go offline.
Since Dogecoin node addresses are publicly accessible, the flaw poses a major risk to network stability.
Expert Warning
Security researchers have expressed concern over the potential impact of this flaw:
“If malicious actors discovered this vulnerability and not us, they could have taken down the entire Dogecoin network for a few days, effectively freezing all transactions and blocking production.”
Coinbase's Controversial Response
Although this problem is very serious, DOGE Efficiency Department revealed that Coinbase downplayed the severity of the vulnerability, and awarded Tobias Ruck, the researcher who discovered it, a modest $200 reward.
What's Next for Dogecoin?
The attack highlighted critical weaknesses in Dogecoin's infrastructure. Although the network is still operational, the incident raises questions about its resilience and speed of response to security threats.
As the Dogecoin community works to address the flaw and restore network functionality, this episode serves as a reminder of the importance of strong cybersecurity in the blockchain ecosystem.