Ethereum Name Service Auction Exploited to Grab Apple Domain

The "Apple.eth" domain has been grabbed with no way to get it back, thanks to an exploit of an auction by the Ethereum Naming Service, a domain registration service for the ethereum network.

The auction kicked off on Sept. 1 and was run by digital collectibles marketplace OpenSea, which disclosed the exploit Monday and published an update on the issue today.

The bug in the auction software had distributed ENS domains to participants who did not hold the highest bid, according to the post.

"One user discovered an input validation vulnerability that allowed them to place bids on a name that actually issued a different name."

Further issues with the auction process affected some 30 domain names like bitmex.

None of these domains were involved in the exploit, however.

An alternative web standard to the internet domain service, DNS, ENS operates on the ethereum blockchain.

Unlike DNS, domain names cannot be forcibly retrieved once allocated to a party, thanks to the immutability of the ledger the information is stored on.

The firm has asked for the domain names to be returned so they can be re-auctioned.

A reward of 25 percent of the final auction price plus the original bid will be given to the hacker, the blog states.