Initia halts network after $3.27 million exploit
By Liezl GambeKey points
- Initia halted its Layer 1 network after attackers exploited compromised infrastructure keys to steal assets.
- The attacker moved approximately $3.27 million, with $2.16 million remaining on the paused network.
- Initia plans to restore affected asset backing and rebuild compromised infrastructure before restarting operations.
Initia has suspended its Layer 1 network after an attacker stole approximately $3.27 million through forged cross-chain withdrawals.
The November 10 shutdown followed unauthorised transfers from escrow accounts holding assets bridged to five rollups.
“We intend to restore the backing of affected assets in full,” Initia said in a post on X.
The attacker gained access on November 9 through a command injection attack involving a compromised Google Cloud Platform key.
The breach exposed environment variables and credentials, enabling access to Initia’s GitHub, cloud accounts and Anvil hosting platform.
Using compromised rollup infrastructure keys, the attacker validated forged Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) withdrawals from five rollups.
Approximately $2.16 million remains on the halted network, while the attacker sold other assets and withdrew TIA and stablecoins.
Initia is rebuilding affected infrastructure and strengthening access controls and IBC validation before restoring network operations.
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