Solana Moves to Retire Transaction Feature Linked to $270 Million Exploit

Solana developers propose ending feature used in Drift protocol hack

Solana developers have introduced a proposal to retire "durable nonces," a transaction feature that attackers exploited to steal at least $270 million from the trading platform Drift in April. The mechanism allows signed transactions to remain valid for long periods instead of expiring quickly.

Standard transactions on Solana—a blockchain network used for fast digital asset transfers—typically expire after about 30 seconds. Durable nonces replaced this short window with a permanent stamp, allowing a transaction signed today to be processed weeks or months later. This feature was originally designed for convenience but became a security risk.

Key facts about the proposed change

• The proposal would end the durable nonces feature no earlier than May 5, 2027.
• Hackers linked to North Korea used this feature to wait more than a week before executing the Drift exploit.
• Durable nonce transactions currently represent about 3% of activity on the Solana network.
• The change will force crypto exchanges and custodians to find new ways to authorize transfers from offline storage.

Technical details of the SIMD-0723 proposal

Gabe Rodriguez from Anza, a firm that develops Solana software, filed the proposal known as SIMD-0723 on November 5. The draft argues that removing the feature is necessary due to a history of technical issues and security vulnerabilities. In 2022, a bug related to this feature caused the entire Solana network to stop processing transactions for four and a half hours.

Under the new plan, every transaction would be required to use a recent "blockhash," which is a digital time stamp that ensures transactions expire if they are not processed quickly. This change aims to simplify the network's code and prevent attackers from holding pre-signed transactions for future use.

Why the update matters for crypto custodians

The removal of durable nonces will primarily affect custodians and exchanges that use "air-gapped" machines—computers kept entirely offline for security. Because these entities must move transaction data from an offline device to the internet manually, the process often takes longer than the standard 30-second expiration window.

By scrapping this feature, these organizations will be forced to rebuild their systems for moving coins. While this increases security by preventing old authorizations from being used unexpectedly, it also presents a technical challenge for firms that rely on the indefinitely valid signatures provided by durable nonces.

What happens next for the Solana network

The proposal is currently in the draft stage and requires technical approval before it can be implemented. Developers have stated that users will be given at least six months to migrate to new systems once a replacement for the feature is ready. While the earliest possible retirement date is set for May 2027, the Solana Foundation may push this deadline further back depending on how long it takes to finalize a replacement.

Sources

• CoinDesk