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Litecoin Rewrites 13 Blocks After Exploit in Its MWEB Privacy Layer

Public commit logs suggest the fix was private weeks earlier, prompting disclosure questions.

Litecoin says 13 block reorg was not a 'zero day' attack, github commit history shows otherwise
Litecoin
Litecoin confirms zero day bug caused 13 block reorg, network patched and stable
Litecoin x account tells critics to ‘stay on the shallow end’ after 13 block reorg

Overview

  • The network rewrote 13 blocks after a Saturday exploit in MimbleWimble Extension Block, a privacy add‑on that lets users move coins out of a shielded pool using peg‑outs.
  • Attackers pushed invalid peg‑outs while a denial‑of‑service hit updated mining pools, letting unpatched nodes carry a fork that ran for more than three hours across blocks 3,095,930 to 3,095,943.
  • The Litecoin Foundation says the vulnerability is patched and normal operations have resumed, while venues reported losses with NEAR Intents’ exposure estimated at about $600,000.
  • Researchers and the GitHub commit history indicate the consensus fix was privately applied between March 19 and March 26 with a separate DoS patch on April 25, challenging the “zero‑day” label and raising coordination concerns.
  • Blockchain traces show the attacker funded a wallet about 38 hours earlier via a Binance withdrawal with a preset LTC‑to‑ETH swap path, a sign of planning that now has platforms auditing transactions and balances.