MetaMask is pulling thousands of Ethereum validators after a security breach redirected transaction-fee rewards, creating a network-wide backlog for stakers attempting to exit.
Onchain security researcher Kaden said about 17,000 MetaMask-operated validators holding roughly 523,000 ETH were proactively exited after an analysis found that transaction-fee rewards from 18 of 19 validators that proposed blocks had been diverted to an address funded through Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based privacy protocol that allows crypto transactions to be mixed and anonymized.
According to Kaden, the attacker appears to have captured only about 0.36 ETH. The larger concern raised is how the attacker gained enough access to alter fee recipient settings for the affected validators in the first place.
The mass exit of MetaMask-operated validators has contributed to Ethereum validator exits reaching a nine-month high as the queue processes the proactive withdrawals.
