Four.Meme recovers after $120K sandwich attack

Four.Meme, a BNB Chain-based memecoin launch platform, has resumed operations following a significant security breach.

The platform was hit by a "sandwich attack," a type of market manipulation technique, which resulted in a loss of approximately $120,000.

This exploit occurred due to a pre-launch vulnerability that allowed the attacker to bypass token transfer restrictions and manipulate liquidity pools for profit.

The attack involved the attacker pre-calculating the address for creating a liquidity pool's trading pair and using one of Four.Meme's functions to purchase tokens before they were officially launched.

The hacker then waited for Four.Meme to add liquidity to the transaction, ultimately siphoning off the funds.

Blockchain security firms ExVul and CertiK both concluded that the exploit was a sophisticated sandwich attack.

The attacker transferred unlaunched tokens to a pre-calculated pair address, manipulated the price at launch, and sold them for profit, netting at least 192 BNB, valued at about $120,000.

Four.Meme temporarily suspended its launch function to investigate and address the security issue.

After a thorough inspection, the platform resumed operations and began compensating affected users.

This incident marks the second significant exploit on Four.Meme in less than two months, following a February attack that resulted in losses of around $183,000.

The broader crypto industry has faced substantial security challenges, with February seeing $1.53 billion in losses due to scams and hacks.

As noted by security experts, the increasing sophistication of these attacks highlights the need for robust security measures in DeFi platforms to protect against such exploits.