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High 74 Bitcoin

bugfix: use write counter for firmware approval

Public commit record

What the developer wrote

Authored by scgbckbone

45/100 · Thin
bugfix: use write counter for firmware approval
✓ Descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component! No meaningful explanatory body
The short version

What changed, and why it matters

This update fixes a security bug in the COLDCARD hardware wallet's firmware upgrade process. Previously, an attacker could potentially swap the staged firmware image while the user was still reviewing the upgrade approval screen. The device now uses a write counter to detect if the staged firmware image was overwritten after it was shown to the user, and aborts the upgrade if so. The change log credits Huzaifa Jawaid for the finding.

Recommended action

Treat this as a security fix and include it in the next firmware release. Ensure the new `upgrade_write_count` is incremented on every code path that can write the firmware staging area, and consider whether any other upgrade entry points bypass `PSRAMWrapper.write_at()`.

Security signals we found

01

TOCTOU / staged-image overwrite protection for firmware upgrades

02

Replacement of hash re-verification with monotonic write counter

03

New `upgrade_write_count` state in PSRAM wrapper and vdisk import path

04

Test explicitly simulates staged-image tamper during approval screen

05

Change log describes bugfix and credits external reporter

Risk score

Why this scored 74/100

Our methodology →
Potential impact 22/30
Exploitability 16/25
Stealth signal 10/15
Affected reach 12/15
Confidence 9/10
Evidence quality 5/5
Human-validated context

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