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Moderate 62 Bitcoin

Reject unreadable nSequence and fallback locktime instead of defaulting

Public commit record

What the developer wrote

Authored by Salvatore Ingala

65/100 · Adequate
Reject unreadable nSequence and fallback locktime instead of defaulting

Default should only be applied for actually absent keys, without
swallowing errors.
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides an explanatory body
The short version

What changed, and why it matters

This commit fixes a bug in Ledger's Bitcoin app where malformed PSBT data could silently be treated as if it were missing. Specifically, if the 'nSequence' or 'fallback locktime' fields were present but unreadable (wrong length or bad proof), the app previously substituted default values and continued signing. Now it correctly rejects such malformed inputs. This prevents a malicious or buggy wallet client from getting the device to sign a transaction using sequence or locktime values the client never actually committed to.

Recommended action

Review and merge; ensure the new error paths are exercised in device tests and that no other PSBT field accessors still silently default on ERROR.

Security signals we found

01

Silent defaulting on malformed PSBT fields could cause signing over uncommitted nSequence/locktime values

02

Fix distinguishes PSBT_FIELD_ABSENT from PSBT_FIELD_ERROR for critical consensus fields

03

BIP-0370 default now applied only when field is genuinely absent

04

Regression test added for over-long fallback locktime

05

Change affects all transaction hash/sighash computation paths

Risk score

Why this scored 62/100

Our methodology →
Potential impact 18/30
Exploitability 12/25
Stealth signal 10/15
Affected reach 10/15
Confidence 8/10
Evidence quality 4/5
Human-validated context

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