CertiK: attacker drained 200 ETH from legacy MakerDAO auction keeper
Protos reports, citing CertiK, that an attacker removed 200 ETH from a legacy MakerDAO auction-keeper contract whose lots were never settled after Black Thursday in March 2020.
Why it matters
The drained contract sits outside the current Sky ecosystem, so the direct effect on the protocol is limited. It does show that abandoned contracts can hold funds years after a crisis and remain targets, which carries some relevance for how legacy code is monitored.
Key facts
An attacker exploited a legacy MakerDAO auction-keeper contract and removed200 ETH from it.
200 ETHReported by Protos
Protos put the value taken at over $500,000.
500,000 USDReported by Protos
CertiK's analysis says the root cause was a missing access control on function 0x8804d1de in keeper implementation 0x68399ed8aa33C5b43F863EE6782de492006A5546.
Reported by Protos
The attacker gained access to four lots of 50 ETH that had never been settled from the Black Thursday crisis.
50 ETHReported by Protos
The auction-keeper contract won ETH from MakerDAO for zero bids during the March 2020 Black Thursday liquidation crisis.
Reported by Protos
The affected contract is not a core part of the current Sky ecosystem.
Reported by Protos
What happened
Protos reports that a legacy MakerDAO auction-keeper contract was exploited for more than $500,000, citing an analysis from CertiK. According to CertiK's analysis, an attacker removed 200 ETH from the contract after gaining access to four lots of 50 ETH that had remained unsettled since Black Thursday in March 2020, when the contract won ETH from MakerDAO at zero bids during the liquidation crisis. CertiK attributed the root cause to a missing access control check on function 0x8804d1de in keeper implementation 0x68399ed8aa33C5b43F863EE6782de492006A5546. Protos says the attacker then moved the funds in 10-ETH lots through Tornado Cash. Protos also notes the contract is not part of the current Sky ecosystem. Protos is the only outlet reporting this, so the account of the exploit and its scale rests on a single writeup of the CertiK analysis, with no response from MakerDAO or CertiK quoted.
How the story developed
- First report
First report by Protos
Black Thursday revisited: MakerDAO keeper exploited for $500K
- Update
Black Thursday liquidation crisis leaves unsettled auction-keeper lots
The legacy auction-keeper contract won ETH from MakerDAO at zero bids during the March 2020 liquidation crisis, and four 50-ETH lots were never settled.
- Update
CertiK traces the exploit to missing access control
CertiK's analysis points to missing access control on function 0x8804d1de in keeper implementation 0x68399ed8aa33C5b43F863EE6782de492006A5546 as the root cause.
- Update
Protos reports the $500K exploit on the legacy keeper
Protos published the report of the drain of 200 ETH, later moved in 10-ETH lots through Tornado Cash.
Affected entities
Original sources
| Publisher | Report | Role | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protos Crypto media | Black Thursday revisited: MakerDAO keeper exploited for $500K | Original |
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