DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
  1. DZone
  2. Popular
  3. Open Source
  4. Open Source Hack Creates Vulnerability in Bitcoin Wallet Application Copay

Open Source Hack Creates Vulnerability in Bitcoin Wallet Application Copay

Not properly securing open source code is getting more expensive with every hack.

Andre Lee-Moye user avatar by
Andre Lee-Moye
·
Dec. 03, 18 · News
Like (2)
Save
Tweet
Share
4.82K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

An attack on the Bitcoin wallet application Copay has left many cryptocurrency customers questioning the security of their digital cash. 

It was recently discovered that malicious code was inserted into one of the modules of the popular event-stream JavaScript library event-stream, a library used in the codebase of millions of developers worldwide and at a large number of large and small companies across industries. The affected module, flatmap-stream, was initially inserted into the library in an update in early September, empty and innocuous. Then, in an update on October 8th, the module was updated with malicious code that would target the Copay app.

If affected, Copay wallets with Bitcoin would have been drained and sent to an offshore account in Singapore, according to a report on the story from ExtremeTech.

You can read more coverage from DZone in last week's article on the attack.

The former owner of the event-stream library, developer Dominic Tarr, resigned from the project according to a GitHub thread discussing the security breach. According to Tarr, after resigning from maintaining the library, he transferred ownership to a user only currently known by his username, right9ctrl. When asked about why he provided administrative control to right9ctrl (the account for which has since been deleted), Tarr stated that he no longer had any desire for maintaining or use for the module:

Image title


The malicious code appears to have affected versions 5.0.2 and 5.1.0 of the Copay application. Parent company BitPay has since released a statement advising users to assume that their wallets of these versions have been compromised, update their wallets to a newly-released v5.2.0 that has had the malicious code removed, and to move any remaining money in their wallets to one updated to the new version. BitPay stated that they are currently still investigating whether the vulnerability was ever exploited, and if so, how extensive the damage was. 

This news has sent ripples through the open source development community, with many developers highlighting how this hack provides further evidence of the necessity of proper security protocols and governance in open source:

Image title

Image title

Image title


This is not the first time, even this year, that cryptocurrency has experienced security breaches or hacks from malicious players, as multiple wallets from companies around the world have experienced how millions of dollars in cryptocurrency can be lost to a single hack.

Open source application Hack (falconry) Bitcoin Vulnerability

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Top Three Docker Alternatives To Consider
  • Upgrade Guide To Spring Data Elasticsearch 5.0
  • An Introduction to Data Mesh
  • 5 Factors When Selecting a Database

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: