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High 76 Bitcoin

Wipe on duress-secret view/activate in Delta Mode

Public commit record

What the developer wrote

Authored by scgbckbone

68/100 · Adequate
Wipe on duress-secret view/activate in Delta Mode

In Delta Mode, the Trick PINs menu allowed a coercer to (a) press (6) to read
a duress wallet's full seed words / XPRV off screen, and (b) Activate Wallet to
load the duress secret as the active temporary seed -- all without a wipe. Every
other secret-revealing flow calls wipe_if_deltamode(); these two paths were
missed. The master seed itself is safe (hardened derivation), but the duress
wallet's funds and the user's deniability were exposed.

Keep menu browsing working (Delta Mode should look like normal operation), but
call wipe_if_deltamode() before the (6) viewer reads the slot and before
Activate Wallet applies the secret.

Add test_deltamode_duress_secret_view_wipes: browsing the menu works in delta
mode, but viewing the duress secret and activating the wallet each trigger a
wipe. Verified to fail pre-patch (no wipe) and pass with the fix.
✓ Descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context
The short version

What changed, and why it matters

This commit fixes a security bug in the COLDCARD hardware wallet's 'Delta Mode' duress feature. Delta Mode is designed to make the device look normal while silently protecting secrets. Previously, a coercer could force someone to open the Trick PINs menu and either view the full seed words of a duress wallet, or activate that wallet, without triggering a wipe. This exposed the duress wallet's funds and weakened the user's deniability. The fix makes both actions trigger a secure wipe when in Delta Mode, matching how other secret-revealing flows already behaved. Browsing the menu still works so Delta Mode remains plausible.

Recommended action

Treat this as a security fix and include it in the next firmware release. Users relying on duress wallets and Delta Mode should upgrade once a release containing this commit is available. No immediate user action is described in the commit beyond applying the update.

Security signals we found

01

Missing authorization/safeguard in two secret-revealing flows

02

Duress/deniability feature bypass allowing secret disclosure under coercion

03

Addition of wipe_if_deltamode() guard to align with other secret-revealing flows

04

Regression test demonstrates pre-patch failure and post-patch pass

Risk score

Why this scored 76/100

Our methodology →
Potential impact 22/30
Exploitability 18/25
Stealth signal 12/15
Affected reach 10/15
Confidence 9/10
Evidence quality 5/5
Human-validated context

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