Kinesis Bridge on Kadena
This bug bounty program focuses on the Kinesis Bridge, a cross-chain bridge that leverages the Hyperlane protocol. The program primarily covers the bridge's smart contract implementation, cross-chain messaging and validation system, and verification mechanisms for secure asset transfers and bridging operations between supported networks.
PoC Required
KYC required
Rewards
Rewards by Threat Level
Mainnet assets:
Reward amount is 10% of the funds directly affected up to a maximum of:
$50,000Minimum reward to discourage security researchers from withholding a bug report:
$25,000Rewards are distributed according to the impact of the vulnerability based on the Immunefi Vulnerability Severity Classification System V2.3. Reward Calculation for Critical Level Reports
For critical smart contract bugs, the reward amount is 10% of the funds directly affected up to a maximum of USD $50,000. The calculation of the amount of funds at risk is based on the time and date the bug report is submitted. However, a minimum reward of USD $25,000 is to be rewarded in order to incentivize security researchers against withholding a critical bug report.
Repeatable Attack Limitations
If the smart contract where the vulnerability exists can be upgraded or paused, only the initial attack will be considered for a reward. This is because the project can mitigate the risk of further exploitation by upgrading or pausing the component where the vulnerability exists. The reward amount will depend on the severity of the impact and the funds at risk.
For critical repeatable attacks on smart contracts that cannot be upgraded or paused, the project will consider the cumulative impact of the repeatable attacks for a reward. This is because the project cannot prevent the attacker from repeatedly exploiting the vulnerability until all funds are drained and/or other irreversible damage is done. Therefore, this warrants a reward equivalent to 10% of funds at risk, capped at the maximum critical reward.
Reward Calculation for High Level Reports
High vulnerabilities concerning theft/permanent freezing of unclaimed yield/royalties are rewarded within a range of $10,000 to $25,000 depending on the funds at risk, capped at the maximum high reward.
In the event of temporary freezing, the reward doubles from the full frozen value for every additional 24h that the funds are temporarily frozen, up until a max cap of the high reward. This is because as the duration of the freezing lengthens, the potential for greater damage and subsequent reputational harm intensifies. Thus, by increasing the reward proportionally with the frozen duration, the project ensures stronger incentives for bug disclosure of this nature.
Reward Payment Terms
Kadena will be issuing the payment of the bounties on behalf of the Ideasoft team, who owns and operates the Kinesis bridge
The calculation of the net amount rewarded is based on the average price between CoinMarketCap.com and CoinGecko.com at the time the bug report was submitted. No adjustments are made based on liquidity availability.
Kadena provides rewards in either the native tokens known as “Kadena” and that carry the trading symbol KDA (“KDA”), USDC, USDT or a combination thereof, as determined by Kadena in its discretion, for valid, approved and accepted Bug Reports for various projects within the Kadena public blockchain ecosystem (the “Ecosystem”). Payment of any Research Fee will be made, and any KDA, USDC or USDT delivered, within thirty (30) days of Kadena’s approval or acceptance of a Bug Report to a wallet that supports KDA, USDC or USDT and which corresponds to the public key that such Security Researcher provides to Kadena in writing. If the payment of an applicable Research Fee is satisfied in whole or in part by delivery of KDA, the USD equivalency of each KDA so delivered shall be equal to the closing price of KDA (denominated in KDA and as reported by CoinMarketCap) on the date on which the Security Researcher submits a Bug Report which is ultimately approved or accepted by Kadena. Each Security Researcher bears all market risk related to the volatility of KDA between the date of the Kadena’s receipt of such Security Researcher’s Bug Report and the actual date of delivery of KDA. For more details about the payment process, please view the Rewards by Threat Level section further below.
Program Overview
This bug bounty program focuses on the Kinesis Bridge, a cross-chain bridge that leverages the Hyperlane protocol. The program primarily covers the bridge's smart contract implementation, cross-chain messaging and validation system, and verification mechanisms for secure asset transfers and bridging operations between supported networks. Use of the Kinesis Bridge is at each such user’s own risk, without recourse or liability to any of IdeaSoft, Kadena or any of their respective employees, officers, directors, agents or representatives. For a complete set of the Kinesis Bridge terms, please visit https://www.kadena.io/.
Kinesis Bridge is owned and operated by IdeaSoft for the Kadena ecosystem. Kadena is a fast, secure, and scalable Layer 1 blockchain using the Chainweb consensus protocol—a braided, parallelized Proof of Work consensus mechanism that improves throughput and scalability while maintaining the security and integrity found in Bitcoin. For more information about Kadena, please visit https://www.kadena.io/.
Kadena, LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company (“Kadena”), has issued this Bug Bounty Program (“Bug Bounty Program”) as of January 2025. The submission by any person or entity of any bug report in response to any bug bounty published by Kadena (each person or entity making such submission, a “Security Researcher”) shall be deemed an acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Bug Bounty Program (the “Kadena BBP Terms” or these “Terms”), including those terms included at the bottom of the page, and the Kadena BBP Terms shall govern, solely and exclusively, the terms and conditions of any agreement, engagement, transaction or other form of relationship between Kadena and any Security Researcher. Kadena may modify these Terms from time to time in its sole discretion.
Bug Reports and Research Fees
Kadena shall determine, in its sole and absolute discretion, (i) whether any Bug Report submitted is sufficiently responsive to warrant approval or acceptance and trigger any obligation to pay a Research Fee to any Security Researcher, (ii) the security level and Research Fee payable for any Bug Report and (iii) timing and order of submission for competing valid Bug Reports.
KYC Requirement
- KYC information will be requested in order to pay for successful bug submissions. The following information will be required:
- Government-issued photo ID (passport, national ID card, or driver's license)
- Recent proof of address (either a redacted bank statement with your address or a recent utility bill with your name, address, and issuer of the bill)
- Wallet address(es) for payment in KDA
- W-8BEN or W-9 tax form as applicable based on residency
Eligibility Criteria
Security researchers who wish to participate must adhere to the rules of engagement set forth in this program and cannot be:
- On OFACs SDN list
- A citizen or resident of any Prohibited Jurisdiction (as hereinafter defined). The term “Prohibited Jurisdiction” shall mean the State of New York, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and any other jurisdiction where the offer, sale or delivery of KDA would be illegal or violate applicable laws or would require Kadena or any of its affiliates to obtain a license, permit, approval, registration, or other qualification that such member does not then possess.
- Official contributor, as determined by Kadena in its sole discretion, both past or present
- Employees, consultants and/or individuals associated with the project
- Security auditors that directly or indirectly participated in the audit review
Responsible Publication
Kadena adheres to category 3 - Approval Required. This Policy determines what information researchers are allowed to make public from their submitted bug reports. For more information about the category selected, please refer to our Responsible Publication page.
Primacy of Rules
Kadena adheres to the Primacy of Rules.
Proof of Concept (PoC) Requirements
A PoC, demonstrating the bug's impact, is required for this program and has to comply with the Immunefi PoC Guidelines and Rules.
Feasibility Limitations
The project may be receiving reports that are valid (the bug and attack vector are real) and cite assets and impacts that are in scope, but there may be obstacles or barriers to executing the attack in the real world. In other words, there is a question about how feasible the attack really is. Conversely, there may also be mitigation measures that projects can take to prevent the impact of the bug, which are not feasible or would require unconventional action and hence, should not be used as reasons for downgrading a bug's severity.
Therefore, Immunefi has developed a set of feasibility limitation standards which by default states what security researchers, as well as projects, can or cannot cite when reviewing a bug report.
Immunefi Standard Badge
By adhering to Immunefi’s best practice recommendations, Kadena has satisfied the requirements for the Immunefi Standard Badge.
KYC required
The submission of KYC information is a requirement for payout processing.
Proof of Concept
Proof of concept is always required for all severities.
Responsible Publication
Category 3: Approval Required
Prohibited Activities
- Any testing on mainnet or public testnet deployed code; all testing should be done on local-forks of either public testnet or mainnet
- Any testing with pricing oracles or third-party smart contracts
- Attempting phishing or other social engineering attacks against our employees and/or customers
- Any testing with third-party systems and applications (e.g. browser extensions) as well as websites (e.g. SSO providers, advertising networks)
- Any denial of service attacks that are executed against project assets
- Automated testing of services that generates significant amounts of traffic
- Public disclosure of an unpatched vulnerability in an embargoed bounty
- Any other actions prohibited by the Immunefi Rules
Feasibility Limitations
The project may be receiving reports that are valid (the bug and attack vector are real) and cite assets and impacts that are in scope, but there may be obstacles or barriers to executing the attack in the real world. In other words, there is a question about how feasible the attack really is. Conversely, there may also be mitigation measures that projects can take to prevent the impact of the bug, which are not feasible or would require unconventional action and hence, should not be used as reasons for downgrading a bug's severity.
Therefore, Immunefi has developed a set of feasibility limitation standards which by default states what security researchers, as well as projects, can or cannot cite when reviewing a bug report.