ZKLINK NOVA BRIDGE ATTACK LEAVES ETH ESCROW NEARLY EMPTY One transaction drained about $779,000 in ETH and tokens. @blockaid_ said a forged batch root enabled unauthorized withdrawals. Read more here:

🚨 On October 29, 2026, cross-chain protocol @zkLink_Official was exploited for approximately $783K. The SlowMist Security Team analyzed the incident and uncovered how a transient storage flaw led to forged batch roots and unauthorized withdrawals. 🧩 Attack Flow: 1️⃣ Queried totalBatchesExecuted and selected the next batch (116409) for forgery. 2️⃣ Executed a genuine Linea claim through SyncL2TxHashRelayer, writing finalizeMessageHash into transient storage. 3️⃣ Reused the stale finalizeMessageHash in a second claimMessage call, triggering an attacker-controlled call to EthereumGateway. 4️⃣ Used EthereumGateway.sendMessage to call ZkLink.syncBatchRoot, forging the batch root and advancing totalBatchesExecuted. 5️⃣ Executed 12 withdrawals against the forged root: 1 ETH and 11 ERC-20 transfers using forged Merkle proofs. ⚙️ Root Cause: Arbitrator.claimMessage allows relayers to specify arbitrary call targets and calldata, while failing to clear or bind finalizeMessageHash to the current invocation. Combined with ZkLink.syncBatchRoot only checking gateway identity without verifying batch proofs, this enabled batch root forgery. 🔒 Recommendations: When reviewing similar cross-chain relayer projects, pay attention to four areas: 1️⃣ Reset transient storage before each call. 2️⃣ Bind verification values to the current invocation. 3️⃣ Check whether arbitrary users can indirectly leverage trusted callers through public helper contracts or relayers. 4️⃣ Independently verify batch root updates rather than relying solely on caller identity. Full analysis 👇

I wrote this journal entry exactly five years ago while shooting my 99 Originals Polaroid project. Today, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I wanted to share it. DAY 12 — #11# GROUND ZERO, 9/11/21 Today was much more powerful than I’d ever expected. I had the privilege of attending the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Ceremony at Ground Zero with Zelina Vega (a WWE superstar whose father passed in the 9/11 tragedy, real name Thea). As I solemnly paced around the site with my stupid little Polaroid, the essence of mourning was overwhelming. Hundreds of families affected by a deliberate and malicious attack on our nation - left without fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. We hear stories of the tragedy and see the videos, but most people never really truly experience the lifelong ripple effect it’s had on the victims and New York. The city was overflowing with patriotism on this day, and I was proud to be supporting in attendance. I got a chance to speak with Thea’s mother — the kindest, most gentle, warm-eyed, inviting little soul, who remains scarred from two decades’ worth of lament when her husband got trapped in the South Tower. Throughout the morning, she’d reminisce… where she was, how she felt, keeping her children calm… She told me she had spoken to her husband before he passed. He called her after the first plane had hit, and they’d spoken from 9:04-9:15am. I asked her what he said. She said “he just called to say goodbye.” And I broke. I couldn’t hold back tears as I wept beneath my baseball hat and pulled up my mask to the bridge of my nose. I turned around and took a second to collect myself, but as I stood on the ground of the most devastating terrorist attack in United States history, I couldn’t help but sob. My tears bounced off the black marble etched with the names of those we lost. Thea gave me a comforting hug. I said “y’all are way tougher than me” as I tried to nervously laugh off my tears. While I had never felt such an overwhelming sense of grief, Thea and her mother stood stoically… it was clear that this sadness was all too familiar for both of them. At the end of the day, Thea and her mother thanked me for helping to cement 9/11 in history to be remembered and memorialized in an appropriate fashion. She also thanked me for making her laugh, and that it made her day much easier.