# What Is an 'Oracle Exploit' and How Does It Occur? ⎊ Path

**Published:** 2025-12-05
**Author:** Greeks.live
**Categories:** Path

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## What Is an ‘Oracle Exploit’ and How Does It Occur?

An oracle exploit is a type of attack where a malicious actor manipulates the data feed provided by an oracle to trick a smart contract into executing a financially advantageous action for the attacker. This can occur by manipulating the spot price on a low-liquidity exchange used by a single-source oracle, or by exploiting a vulnerability in the oracle's aggregation logic to submit a false value.

The result is often the theft of funds from a DeFi protocol.

- [What Are the Risks of Relying on a Single Data Feed for an Options Smart Contract?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-are-the-risks-of-relying-on-a-single-data-feed-for-an-options-smart-contract/)

- [What Is an Oracle Attack and How Does It Combine with Reentrancy in Derivatives?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-is-an-oracle-attack-and-how-does-it-combine-with-reentrancy-in-derivatives/)

- [What Are Common Phishing Techniques Used to Target Hot Wallet Users?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-are-common-phishing-techniques-used-to-target-hot-wallet-users/)

- [How Does an Oracle Feed Real-World Data into a Smart Contract?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-does-an-oracle-feed-real-world-data-into-a-smart-contract/)

- [How Can an Oracle Be Manipulated to Execute a Profitable but Fraudulent Options Trade?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-can-an-oracle-be-manipulated-to-execute-a-profitable-but-fraudulent-options-trade/)

- [Can a Double-Spend Attack Be Used to Manipulate the Price of a Derivative?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/can-a-double-spend-attack-be-used-to-manipulate-the-price-of-a-derivative/)

- [What Is the Difference between an Oracle Exploit and General Market Manipulation in DeFi?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-is-the-difference-between-an-oracle-exploit-and-general-market-manipulation-in-defi/)

- [How Can an Attacker Profit from an Oracle Exploit without Directly Manipulating the Underlying Asset’s Market Price?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-can-an-attacker-profit-from-an-oracle-exploit-without-directly-manipulating-the-underlying-assets-market-price/)

## Glossar

### [Malicious Actor](https://learn.greeks.live/area/malicious-actor/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)

Exploitation ⎊ Within cryptocurrency derivatives, options trading, and financial derivatives, exploitation represents the strategic leveraging of vulnerabilities ⎊ often systemic ⎊ to generate illicit gains.

## Discover More

### [What Is a Mining Difficulty Adjustment and How Often Does It Occur?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-is-a-mining-difficulty-adjustment-and-how-often-does-it-occur/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![What Is a Mining Difficulty Adjustment and How Often Does It Occur?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Precision-Actuation-Dynamics-of-Near-Zero-Latency-Hardware-Wallet-Seed-Phrase-Retrieval-Mechanism.webp)

It is an automatic retargeting of mining difficulty every two weeks (for Bitcoin) to keep block production at a steady pace.

### [How Can Traders Exploit the Volatility Skew through Options Strategies?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-can-traders-exploit-the-volatility-skew-through-options-strategies/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![How Can Traders Exploit the Volatility Skew through Options Strategies?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Visualizing-Gamma-Exposure-Dynamics-Through-Implied-Volatility-Surface-Contraction-in-Digital-Asset-Options.webp)

They sell the high-IV options (e.g. OTM puts) and buy the low-IV options (e.g. OTM calls) to profit from relative mispricing.

### [How Can Flash Loans Exploit CDP Mechanisms?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-can-flash-loans-exploit-cdp-mechanisms/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![How Can Flash Loans Exploit CDP Mechanisms?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Xray-Visualization-of-a-Decentralized-Autonomous-Organization-Governance-Rotor-Mechanism-Rotation-Dynamics.webp)

Borrowing vast capital instantly to manipulate oracle prices or trigger favorable liquidations within one transaction block.

### [What Is 'Positive Slippage' and When Does It Occur?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-is-positive-slippage-and-when-does-it-occur/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![What Is 'Positive Slippage' and When Does It Occur?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Precision-Engineering-Aesthetic-Applied-to-Decentralized-Finance-Derivative-Execution-Mechanism-Interface.webp)

Positive slippage is a trade execution at a better-than-expected price, occurring when the market moves favorably.

### [Does a Margin Call Occur before or after the Maintenance Margin Is Breached?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/does-a-margin-call-occur-before-or-after-the-maintenance-margin-is-breached/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![Does a Margin Call Occur before or after the Maintenance Margin Is Breached?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Teal-Blue-Granular-Texture-Encapsulating-a-Spherical-Quantum-Refraction-Mechanism-in-a-Precision-Bearing-Track.webp)

Traditionally before the maintenance margin is breached; in crypto, often replaced by an auto-liquidation warning near the breach.

### [Can a Double-Spend Attack Occur on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Network?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/can-a-double-spend-attack-occur-on-a-proof-of-stake-pos-network/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![Can a Double-Spend Attack Occur on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Network?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Aerodynamic-Propeller-Hub-Design-Modeling-Stochastic-Volatility-Surface-Calibration-Futures.webp)

Yes, by controlling 51 percent of the staked coins, but advanced PoS mechanisms mitigate this.

### [Can a Malicious Actor Exploit the Proxy's Upgrade Mechanism?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/can-a-malicious-actor-exploit-the-proxys-upgrade-mechanism/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![Can a Malicious Actor Exploit the Proxy's Upgrade Mechanism?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Asymmetric-Mechanism-Deployment-Extracting-Implied-Volatility-Data-From-Digital-Asset-Spherical-Node.webp)

A compromised admin key allows a malicious actor to deploy a malicious logic contract, potentially leading to fund theft or operational shutdown.

### [How Does Liquidation Occur in a Leveraged Perpetual Futures Position?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/how-does-liquidation-occur-in-a-leveraged-perpetual-futures-position/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![How Does Liquidation Occur in a Leveraged Perpetual Futures Position?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Asymmetric-Hedging-Instrument-Crossing-Over-Digital-Asset-Volatility-Surface-Visualization.webp)

The forced closure of a leveraged position when the margin balance drops below the required maintenance level due to losses.

### [What Is a "Just-in-Time" (JIT) Liquidity Attack and How Does It Exploit the AMM Structure?](https://learn.greeks.live/path/what-is-a-just-in-time-jit-liquidity-attack-and-how-does-it-exploit-the-amm-structure/?utm_source=crypto.greeks.live&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=satellite)
![What Is a "Just-in-Time" (JIT) Liquidity Attack and How Does It Exploit the AMM Structure?](https://learn.greeks.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Symmetrical-Bifurcation-Visualization-of-Decentralized-Finance-Collateralized-Derivatives-Execution.webp)

JIT attack involves adding and removing liquidity in the same block as a large trade to capture fees and profit from the price change with minimal exposure to IL.

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