CVE-2023-40580 in Freighter
Summary
by MITRE • 08/25/2023
Freighter is a Stellar chrome extension. It may be possible for a malicious website to access the recovery mnemonic phrase when the Freighter wallet is unlocked. This vulnerability impacts access control to the mnemonic recovery phrase. This issue was patched in version 5.3.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/20/2023
The CVE-2023-40580 vulnerability affects the Freighter chrome extension, a wallet application for the Stellar blockchain ecosystem. This security flaw represents a critical access control failure that could potentially compromise user funds and private key material. The vulnerability specifically targets the recovery mnemonic phrase, which serves as the primary means of wallet recovery and access to all associated Stellar assets. When a user unlocks their Freighter wallet, malicious websites can exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to the mnemonic phrase, fundamentally undermining the security model of the wallet application.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper isolation mechanisms between the chrome extension and malicious web pages. The flaw likely involves insufficient sandboxing or inadequate communication barriers between the extension's privileged context and the browser environment. This allows malicious actors to leverage techniques such as DOM manipulation or cross-origin scripting to intercept or access the mnemonic phrase during the unlock process. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the extension's privilege separation model, where sensitive cryptographic material should remain isolated from untrusted web content. According to CWE standards, this represents a weakness in privilege management and access control mechanisms, specifically categorized under CWE-284 Access Control.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-40580 extends beyond simple data theft, as the recovery mnemonic phrase provides complete access to all user Stellar assets. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could drain all funds from compromised wallets, making this a particularly dangerous flaw in cryptocurrency applications. The attack vector requires only a malicious website that can interact with the unlocked wallet, making it relatively easy to exploit in real-world scenarios. Users who regularly use the Freighter extension and visit untrusted websites are at risk, especially when their wallets are unlocked for transactions. This vulnerability directly impacts the core security promise of cryptocurrency wallets and could lead to significant financial losses for affected users.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate updating to version 5.3.1, which contains the necessary patches to address the access control flaw. Users should also maintain awareness of the websites they visit and avoid interacting with malicious content while their wallets are unlocked. The patch likely implements stronger isolation mechanisms between the extension's privileged context and web content, ensuring that mnemonic phrases remain accessible only to the legitimate extension interface. Organizations and security teams should monitor for similar vulnerabilities in other cryptocurrency wallet extensions and ensure proper sandboxing practices are implemented. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1547.001 for privilege escalation and T1059.001 for command and scripting interface, demonstrating how browser-based attacks can leverage extension vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to sensitive cryptographic material.