Roundup: Ledger attack reportedly reaches Europe; AI uncovers XRP minting bug

This is a roundup of cryptocurrency developments. A tampered Ledger attack reportedly spread to Europe after affecting hardware wallet users in Asia. Cybersecurity outlet Yfarmx estimated losses at $93.4 million across 471 addresses, but Ledger has not confirmed that figure.

European user Johannes presented photographs of a tampered Ledger that Johannes said was purchased from electronics chain MediaMarkt two weeks ago. The implant appears to be an earlier version of the implant linked to devices shipped by CryptoBilis in Asia. No funds have been taken from the European device. Johannes suggested that the device either did not work or that attackers were waiting for broader use of compromised devices.

Former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles helped uncover the problem through investigations into tampered Ledger devices in Asia. Karpeles said the European device's antenna identifies the implant as the "Eurasian version". Karpeles said that designation suggests separate implant versions were sent to regions using different mobile frequencies. Ledger has not confirmed that the reported European device is part of the same attack.

The attack affected Ledger devices in Asia late last week. Devices from official reseller CryptoBilis were found modified in ways that apparently allow attackers to read seed phrases and steal funds while the devices still pass authenticity checks. CryptoBilis had recently been sold to a new owner. CryptoBilis is listed as an authorized Ledger reseller in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Ledger asked CryptoBilis to suspend sales and shipments of Ledger devices as a precaution. Ledger advised customers who bought devices from CryptoBilis within the past 90 days to consider transferring assets to a new Ledger. Ledger said in an update today that the number of affected devices is limited.

Security firm Veria Labs received a $250,000 bug bounty for uncovering an overflow bug hidden in XRP's code since 2015. Veria Labs claims a single transaction could have created trillions of XRP. The bug has been patched, and there is no evidence that the bug was ever exploited.

Veria Labs security co-founder Cayden Liao said the firm's AI agent examined rippled, the software that runs the XRP Ledger, and found two low-severity bugs. Liao said the AI agent combined the bugs into a much larger exploit. Liao said one exploit transaction could have created more than 18 trillion XRP, 184 times the total supply. Liao said the vulnerability put XRP's entire $94 billion market capitalization at risk, more than 60 times the largest cryptocurrency hack on record. Liao suspected the vulnerability escaped detection because the exploit combined two bugs that individually would have low severity. The bugs were reported on September 22. RippleX patched the bugs three days later.