A 15-Year-Old Hacked the Secure Ledger Crypto Wallet (techcrunch.com) 68
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A 15-year-old programmer named Saleem Rashid discovered a flaw in the popular Ledger hardware wallet that allowed hackers to grab secret PINs before or after the device was shipped. The holes, which Rashid described on his blog, allowed for both a "supply chain attack" -- meaning a hack that could compromise the device before it was shipped to the customer -- and another attack that could allow a hacker to steal private keys after the device was initialized. The Ledger team described the vulnerabilities dangerous but avoidable. For the "supply chain attack," they wrote: "by having physical access to the device before generation of the seed, an attacker could fool the device by injecting his seed instead of generating a new one. The most likely scenario would be a scam operation from a shady reseller." "If you bought your device from a different channel, if this is a second hand device, or if you are unsure, then you could be victim of an elaborate scam. However, as no demonstration of the attack in the real has been shown, it is very unlikely. In both cases, a successful firmware update is the proof that your device has never been compromised," wrote the team.
Further, the post-purchase hack "can be achieved only by having physical access to the device, knowing your PIN code and installing a rogue unsigned application. This rogue app could break isolation between apps and access sensitive data managed by specific apps such as GPG, U2F or Neo." Ledger CEO Eric Larcheveque claimed that there were no reports of the vulnerability effecting any active devices. "No one was compromised that we know of," he said. "We have no knowledge that any device was affected." Rashid, for his part, was disappointed with the speed Ledger responded to his claims.
Further, the post-purchase hack "can be achieved only by having physical access to the device, knowing your PIN code and installing a rogue unsigned application. This rogue app could break isolation between apps and access sensitive data managed by specific apps such as GPG, U2F or Neo." Ledger CEO Eric Larcheveque claimed that there were no reports of the vulnerability effecting any active devices. "No one was compromised that we know of," he said. "We have no knowledge that any device was affected." Rashid, for his part, was disappointed with the speed Ledger responded to his claims.
Re:Re (Score:4)
There are far simpler attacks and plenty of fools out there to fall for it.
What's more, a hardware wallet is poor cold storage device - far too many ways for it to be compromised. If you're using a hardware wallet as your "secure offline wallet" then you're doing it wrong.
If you **need** convenience then a hardware wallet is useful, but treat it like your real cash wallet. That is, don't stick your life savings into it.
If you are after security, then paper wallets are the way to go. They lack a lot of convenience but as far as I understand, the only two vectors for attack are at key generation (do it offline and secure and you significantly reduce or eliminate any chance here) and the storage of any physical access tokens (pass phrases/secret keys/etc).
IMO hardware wallets are the least secure option since there are just too many opportunities for the devices to be already compromised prior to receipt.
Who do you trust? (Score:2)
If you trust the network to put you in touch with the real hardware wallet vendor (or another trusted agent), then you can verify integrity of the wallet anytime you connect. Banks show personalized: only we know that you know these photos, photos prior to login.
Now, if the network is compromised too...
Re: Who do you trust? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't see how a hardware wallet is any more secure (in practical terms, that is) than a cellphone running LineageOS and no SIM or an iPod Touch.
iPods may be passe, but an iPod Touch is well suited for a near-line wallet. It has on-disk encryption, decent protection, no cellular system, so it has to be explicitly connected to do transactions, and doesn't have as many subsystems (which could be hacked or exploited, like the cellular CPU.) Of course, the wallet app should "pack its own parachute" and do it
Well said (Score:2)
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Re: (Score:1)
You shouldn't use locks with keys that can be so easily duplicated.
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Re: And? (Score:1)
Your house key comes down to 5 digits. Unless you have higher security locks. Then it's 7-15 digits, still not too hard to memorize.
Key guy can just wait for you to leave and cut another. Then finding where you live is their own problem. He could politely ask for your name and you might think nothing of telling him. He might be able to work with just that. He might just have a friend in the parking lot ready to follow you home.
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Not secure against physical attack - duh! (Score:4, Insightful)
These aren't the attacks I need to worry about. Crypto Ledger Wallet was polite in even responding to this kid. John Biggs (writer for Tech Crunch) is an idiot for even writing the story.
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No, this is a problematic attack.
Your wallet is secured with a private key. This hack basically rewrites the RNG that generates that key to make it not so random.
As for physical access? The box doesn't come sealed, and the company states you can buy them off eBay because the technology is so secure, the device is guaranteed to only run their firmware.
So if you buy one of these things, how do you know your device has not been tampered with? It's supposed to be secure, and they claim it's so secure they don't
Re: (Score:2)
It says right in the summary: "In both cases, a successful firmware update is the proof that your device has never been compromised."
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That's what the marketing copy says. But the hack allows the guy to fake the update so it passes the check, so he can add his own code to the firmware update.
In addition, relying on an update to prove correctness doesn't do didly squat. I can create a "open" version that isn't signed and will run anything, and thus can take a signed firmware update just fine. It's just I don't
another bullshit security beatup (Score:2)
Re: another bullshit security beatup (Score:2)
Not OP but I have a useless Verizon Galaxy S4 on the shelf that I'd like to repurpose with LegacyOS. TIA.
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Worrying (Score:2)
The lack of any tamper evident packaging I would consider worrying since it does appear you can compromise these in the supply chain and you would have zero idea it's been done.
Re: Ageism (Score:2, Informative)
I know plenty of inept millenials as well. They re fun to watch pretend they know how things work. Even more fun when this boomer shows how they're wrong in front of their little echo pack of idiots.
ATMs (Score:3)
Re: ATMs (Score:1)
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Vulnerability effecting? (Score:2)
effecting? (Score:3)
Ledger CEO Eric Larcheveque claimed that there were no reports of the vulnerability effecting any active devices.
Too bad; I'd be impressed if a vulnerability could create an active device out of thin air!
'Injecting his seed' (Score:1)
Why the rampant age discrimination? (Score:2)
A 15-year-old programmer named Saleem Rashid discovered a flaw in the popular Ledger hardware wallet that allowed hackers to grab secret PINs....
The discoverer's age is irrelevent to the story. If he were 30, would we call him a "30-year-old programmer" I think not. Is the author trying to imply, that because the programmer was 15, the vulnerability was more obvious, or easily discovered by even a naive person?
That would be an invalid presumption. There are a whole lot of technically sk
Re: Why the rampant age discrimination? (Score:2)
spy my cheating spouse (Score:1)