Following a severe exploit that resulted in the platform losing $100 million, Binance made efforts to secure the platform. The hard fork was implemented to fix the security hole.
Moran Hard Fork
A hardfork, given the name Moran, will try to restore and protect the chain’s system after a significant exploit occurred the previous week. The hard fork dramatically changes the software running in the background.
At 4 AM Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday. Moran’s hardfork has been successfully implemented at a block height of 22,507,423. Binance decided to deploy Moran to fix a significant flaw. That was taken advantage of by a hacker just one week ago.
On Friday, an attacker made off with more than one hundred million dollars from the cross-chain gateway at BNB Smart Chain. The team revealed their plans for such a hard fork in a statement published on GitHub on Tuesday.
The post clarified why a hardfork was necessary and how the next batch would enable developers to rethink BNB Smart Chain’s underlying structure.
Cross Chain Gateway
The cross-chain gateway part of the BNB Smart Chain allows users to move funds. Between the various blockchains that are part of the BNB Chain system seamlessly.
These two chains are known as the Smart Chain and the Beacon Chain. Beacon Chain’s function is to facilitate network management and staking.
Hacking of the BNB Chain
During the Exploit, the hacker fabricated security proofs and exploited a weakness connected to the “all hash checks.” A security check known as the call hash check is embedded into the bridge.
It enabled the hacker to create 2 million BNB, which had a value of $550 million at the period they were made. The data that was accessible on-chain indicated that the hacker had the capability of transferring one hundred million dollars to intermediary chains.
They include Polygon, Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and Fantom. Even so, the hacker kept most of the stolen things in the wallet they made on the BNB network.
The Repercussions
The BNB Chain crew promptly responded and put a halt to the blockchain. They also issued an order for all validators to suspend their operations entirely. The group reactivated the network. However, they decided to keep the bridge offline until the engineers had a chance to fix the issue.
The developers were able to stop the intruder in their tracks completely. They paused the blockchain and attempted to retrieve any funds that the hacker had not migrated to other chains.
Putting the Bridge Back in Service
The bridge’s functions will be restarted again with the support of the engineers after the hard fork. It will also help safeguard the network’s structure.
Now that the hard fork has been completed, the development team will go on to the next stage. The public will vote whether the funds now stored in the thief’s wallet on BNB should be frozen or destroyed.
