According to Odaily, the Cardano network experienced a temporary chain split last Friday due to a malformed delegation transaction that triggered a vulnerability in old code. The transaction, which delegated ADA to a staking pool, was valid at the protocol level but could lead to a code malfunction.
According to an incident report released by Intersect, an organization within the Cardano ecosystem, this "malformed" transaction exploited an old code vulnerability in Cardano's underlying software library, causing nodes to disagree when processing the transaction and ultimately resulting in a network partition.
ADA staking pool operator Homer J has claimed responsibility for the network partitioning incident, admitting he used AI-generated code to push the transaction. Cardano ecosystem organization Intersect has confirmed that no user funds were lost in the incident, and most retail wallets were unaffected.
The incident sparked debate within the Cardano community, with some arguing that Homer J's actions helped expose critical vulnerabilities, while Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson called it an attack on the Cardano network.
Charles Hoskinson stated that the FBI has launched an investigation into the matter. He described such actions as impacting the lives, finances, and businesses of millions, comparing it to "attempting to shut down an economy and launching a cyberattack against a nation-state."
Despite the chain split and network outage, ADA's price volatility was relatively mild, falling from $0.44 on Friday to around $0.40 at the time of the report. This modest decline occurred during a broad market downturn that began in October, accompanied by a $20 billion crypto liquidation.
