Developers of the privacy-focused Ethereum solution Aztec Network reported an attack on an outdated smart contract, resulting in the theft of approximately $2.1 million.
We are investigating a potential exploit affecting Aztec Connect. ~$2.1m was transferred from the immutable smart contract in transaction:https://t.co/5WrfeR8bbJ
Aztec Connect was deprecated 3 years ago. Aztec Labs holds no admin keys or control over the system; it cannot be…
— Aztec Labs (@AztecLabs_) June 14, 2026
The incident involved the Aztec Connect platform, a solution for private transactions that ceased support back in 2023. Despite the end of service, some funds remained locked within the protocol's infrastructure.
The team assured that the active network and user assets were not affected.
BlockSec experts linked the incident to a mismatch between transaction verification and settlement in Ethereum. Due to differences in how the verification path and operation logic interpreted the transaction list, the contract could credit value without verification in the L1 blockchain.
ALERT! Our system detected a suspicious transaction targeting @aztecnetwork’s RollupProcessorV3 contract on #Ethereum hours ago, with estimated losses exceeding $2.15M.
Initial analysis suggests the root cause might be missing access control in processRollup(). Although the… pic.twitter.com/TdNkkNDfwX
— BlockSec Phalcon (@Phalcon_xyz) June 14, 2026
The hacker created unsecured balances and withdrew the funds. The attack targeted seven assets.
Certik reported that among the stolen items were: 909 ETH, 270,000 DAI, 167 wstETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) June 14, 2026
Aztec Connect was launched in 2022 as a DeFi bridge. In March 2023, the platform stopped accepting deposits, and the team redirected resources to Aztec Network.
The developers stated that they do not have administrative keys and do not control the system, so they cannot pause or update it.
It’s worth noting that in November 2025, the project launched the L2 protocol Ignition Chain based on Ethereum, positioning it as "the first fully decentralized layer-two solution."