Abstract
Many cryptocurrency wallet applications on desktop provide an open remote procedure call (RPC) interface that other blockchain-based applications can use to access their functionality. This paper studies the security of the RPC interface in several cryptocurrency wallets. We find that, in many cases, a malicious process running on the computer regardless of its privileges can impersonate the communication endpoints of the RPC channel and, effectively, steal the funds in the wallet. The attacks are closely related to server and client impersonation on computer networks but occur inside the computer. The malicious process may be created by another authenticated but unprivileged user on the same computer or even by the guest user. The main contribution of this paper is to raise awareness among wallet developers about the need to protect local RPC channels with the same prudence as network connections. We also hope that it will discourage users to run security-critical applications like cryptocurrency wallets on shared systems or computers with guest account enabled.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 12th European Workshop on Systems Security, EuroSec 2019 |
Publisher | ACM |
Pages | 6 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-4503-6274-0 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 25 Mar 2019 |
MoE publication type | A4 Conference publication |
Event | European Workshop on Systems Security - Dresden, Germany Duration: 25 Mar 2019 → 28 Mar 2019 Conference number: 12 |
Workshop
Workshop | European Workshop on Systems Security |
---|---|
Abbreviated title | EuroSec |
Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Dresden |
Period | 25/03/2019 → 28/03/2019 |
Keywords
- Cryptocurrency Wallet, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Pitfalls of open architecture: How friends can exploit your cryptocurrency wallet'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Press/Media
-
Security Failures in Modern Software
Tuomas Aura & Markku Antikainen
14/04/2021
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Media appearance