Dogecoin Security in Question After DogeReaper Attack

A serious security flaw has rocked the Dogecoin network, leaving 69% of its active nodes disabled after a hacker exploited a critical vulnerability. What’s even more alarming is that this breach targeted older versions of the network, exposing potential weaknesses that could shake the community’s confidence.

As Dogecoin works to recover, the attack has raised important questions about the blockchain’s security and its ability to withstand such vulnerabilities in the future.

Keep reading to know more.

The DogeReaper Exploit

Data highlighted by blockchain analytics platform Blockchain, the number of active Dogecoin nodes dropped from 647 to 205 earlier this week. Although some nodes have come back online, bumping the total figure back up to 331 as of now, the event exposes a major weakness in the network design.

The hack, named “DogeReaper,” was first discovered by security engineer Tobias Ruck. The exploit allows hackers to remotely trigger segmentation faults in Dogecoin nodes, effectively taking them offline. The attack primarily targeted older nodes running outdated versions of the software, leaving a large portion of the network vulnerable.

Hacker Comes Forward

Andreas Kohl, a developer at Sequentia, admitted on X to using the DogeReaper vulnerability to attack the network from a decade-old laptop in El Salvador’s countryside. He clarified that the exploit mainly affected older nodes, while centralized exchanges and major custodians were not impacted.

“Many Dogecoin users didn’t pay attention because they can use exchanges or have some kind of third party that holds their coins,”

Kohl said.

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Dogecoin’s Decentralization Weakness Exposed

The attack has highlighted a critical flaw in Dogecoin’s decentralized system. Some researchers have compared the DogeReaper exploit to the ‘Death Note’ concept from Japanese manga, where writing a name causes a character to die. Similarly, the exploit can paralyze the network, halting transactions and blocking new blocks from being generated for days.

Even with the hack, Dogecoin’s price has remained relatively stable. As of the latest data from CoinMarketCap, Dogecoin is priced at $0.4073, down 2.54%. However, the attack has increased pressure on the Dogecoin team to fix the vulnerability and restore confidence in the network.

While the exploit has shaken the network, Dogecoin’s resilience will ultimately be tested in how quickly it can recover and secure its future.