A warning from exchange aggregator Jupiter sent shockwaves through the crypto community, revealing that a malicious browser extension has been stealing SOL tokens from users engaged with DeFi protocols on the Solana network.
Every third party software is a security risk
Jupiter’s alert identified the problematic extension as “Bull Checker”.
This Chrome extension has been reportedly targeting users involved in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.
In the first sight, the extension appeared to function normally, allowing users to interact with decentralized applications, it secretly redirected tokens to another wallet upon transaction completion, all without the user’s awareness.
“Users with this extension would interact with dApps as usual, with everything appearing normal, but their tokens could be maliciously transferred to another wallet once the transaction was finalized.”
Funds aren’t safu
In light of these news, Jupiter strongly advised users to refrain from using such extensions. The investigation suggested that a Reddit user, known Solana_OG, may have played a key role in promoting the Bull Checker extension, convincing other users to download it.
The extension reportedly contained harmful code that manipulated instructions from legitimate platforms like Jupiter and Raydium, redirecting funds to unauthorized wallets.
Jupiter urged users to remove any browser extensions with untrusted permissions to protect their assets from similar attacks.
Not the best period for Solana
This security breach comes at a time when the Solana network is already experiencing huge outflows, as the ecosystem has seen a withdraw of $39 million just in the past week, largely due to declining trading volumes in memecoins hosted on the network.
Source: Coinshare
Solana’s overall financial health is showing signs of weakening. DefiLlama reported that Solana’s net flow has also turned negative, with a current decline of -0.22 million.
This negative net flow could mean a reduced demand for Solana-based exchange-traded products and memecoins, raising concerns about the network’s stability.
