Techub News reported that Secret Network’s Axelar cross-chain bridge was exploited around June 20. The attacker used an “infinite mint” vulnerability to create tokens out of thin air and steal about $4.67 million in assets. A cross-chain bridge is used to move assets between different networks, so a flaw in minting or verification logic can allow an attacker to expand the scale of losses once the weakness is abused.
According to the report, the vulnerability remained present for seven days, during which the attacker used the defect to mint large amounts of tokens. Secret Network and Axelar teams have fixed the vulnerability to prevent additional losses. Both sides are now analyzing transaction logs to trace where the funds went and are attempting to recover the stolen assets.
The incident centers on the bridge’s minting mechanism and the need for continuous monitoring. For protocols that rely on cross-chain bridges for asset transfers, security audits, on-chain log review and detection of abnormal minting activity are key measures for reducing losses from similar attacks.