Upbit Security Flaw: Math and Cryptography Skills Fueled the Million-Dollar Attack
A high-level mathematical exploit may have been the cause of the recent Upbit hack, according to a South Korean specialist. The attack might have targeted weaknesses in the random-number generation or signature systems of the exchange. Rather than a conventional wallet hack, the attack seems to have taken advantage of subtle nonce-bias patterns present in millions of Solana transactions. This method necessitates substantial processing power and sophisticated cryptographic knowledge.
Dunamu CEO Apologizes as Experts Reveal Advanced Upbit Exploit
Kyoungsuk Oh, CEO of Dunamu, issued a public apology for the Upbit incident on Friday. He admitted that the organization had found a security vulnerability that allowed an attacker to deduce private keys. The vulnerability allowed for the examination of several Upbit wallet transactions that were available on the blockchain. However, his statement immediately prompted concerns about how transaction data may be used to steal private keys.
Professor Jaewoo Cho of Hansung University provided a more thorough explanation of the breach the next day. He connected the event to Upbit’s internal signing system’s biased or predictable nonces. This approach focused on more intricate vulnerabilities rather than common ECDSA nonce-reuse problems. It took advantage of minute statistical trends in the cryptography of the platform. Attackers might review millions of compromised signatures, according to Cho. They were able to deduce bias patterns and eventually retrieve private keys by doing this.
Sophisticated Attackers Exploit Cryptography Weaknesses in Upbit Hack
This viewpoint is consistent with previous research demonstrating that affinely related ECDSA nonces pose a serious risk. Only two signatures with such connected nonces can reveal private keys, according to a 2025 study on arXiv. As a result, attackers that are able to collect huge datasets from exchanges can extract private keys far more easily. The degree of technical complexity indicates that this exploit was carried out by a well-organized team with sophisticated cryptography knowledge. Cho claims that mathematical proficiency is necessary to detect small bias across millions of signatures. It also requires a lot of computing power.
The incident shows that mathematical flaws can be hidden by well-constructed systems. Randomness and unpredictability are essential for effective nonce generation. Attackers can take advantage of weaknesses created by detectable prejudice. The ability of organized attackers to recognize and take advantage of these vulnerabilities is growing. Following the event, Upbit stopped accepting deposits and withdrawals of digital assets and transferred all remaining funds to safe frozen wallets. In order to ensure prompt damage mitigation, the exchange has also promised to reimburse any losses from its reserves.
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