Aztec Connect’s abandoned smart contract exploited for $2.1M
Aztec Connect, a deprecated DeFi bridge on Ethereum, was exploited on Sunday for about $2.1 million in crypto. The attack targeted a mismatch between transaction verification and settlement logic: transactions were accepted by the verification path but not properly bound to the ZK-proof-enforced transaction set, letting the attacker create unbacked balances and withdraw funds. The exploit affected seven transactions across seven assets, including 909 ETH, 270,000 DAI, and 167 wstETH. Aztec Labs said the current Aztec Network was not affected. Aztec Connect had been deprecated in March 2023, with deposits halted and the system made immutable. The incident adds to a month of heavy crypto thefts, which have reached $44 million across multiple exploits.
