XRP reveals a major security vulnerability, is the negligence behind Ripple the real hidden danger?
Recently, the XRP-related JavaScript library xrpl.js suffered a supply chain attack, where the attacker tampered with the npm package to secretly implant code to steal user private keys. Ripple officials have confirmed the authenticity of the incident.
Affected versions are:
4.2.1 to 4.2.4 and 2.14.2,
Fixed versions are: 4.2.5 and 2.14.3.
The good news is that mainstream wallets like Xaman Wallet and XRPScan were not affected.
The bad news is that this vulnerability is not a simple technical oversight, but a systemic risk caused by the lack of a software signature mechanism.
Bitcoin's early developer Peter Todd warned Ripple about the risks of lacking PGP signature verification a decade ago, and it has indeed come true. His words pointed directly to the core: "The entire software industry is too lax about security."
Lessons from the incident:
1. The code behind crypto assets must be rigorously guarded, even official libraries cannot afford any slack;
2. Projects led by centralized teams face a trust crisis due to security errors.
This incident is not an issue with the XRP chain itself, but rather exposes the shortcomings of its development ecosystem. Technical vulnerabilities can be fixed, but once confidence is lost, it is hard to recover. In the future, those who can do better in security, transparency, and community governance may become the safe haven for the next round of funding.
