NEAR Intents GM addresses $3.865 million exploit tied to Omni bug

What Happened

NEAR Intents, a cross-chain trading and settlement protocol on the NEAR blockchain, lost approximately $3.865 million in USDT to an exploit that straddled September 30 and October 1, 2026. The attack traced to a bug in the Omni crosschain system.

How the Attack Was Conducted

The attacker pulled funds from a BNB Chain vault through five main withdrawals over roughly six hours.

The Ultimatum That Worked

GM Alex Shevchenko publicly identified the attacker and set a 48-hour window for the funds to be returned. The full $3.865 million came back within 24 hours, with the return completed by October 2.

Post-Incident Analysis

The incident highlights the importance of timely patching of security vulnerabilities and the effectiveness of a 48-hour deadline in resolving such incidents. The recovery of the full amount within 24 hours demonstrates the protocol's ability to respond quickly to security threats.

What This Means for Users and the Protocol

For users, the funds were recovered, and the bug was patched within an hour of detection. The team had already committed to covering losses from its treasury. The public-identification tactic worked, but it depends on having enough information to make that threat credible. Things to watch from here include any detailed post-mortem on the Omni interaction bug and whether the 11 paused networks return to normal operations without further issues.