{"id":194393,"date":"2022-06-17T11:02:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T09:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=194393"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:38:39","slug":"metamask-warns-about-crypto-wallets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/metamask-warns-about-crypto-wallets\/","title":{"rendered":"MetaMask and Phantom send alarming warnings about crypto wallets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key to your seemingly secure cryptocurrency wallet is potentially not as well hidden as most think. As it turns out, there\u2019s a vulnerability within your browser that may give threat actors unbridled access to your crypto investments.&nbsp;MetaMask and Phantom are both concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"MetaMask\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-xl,f_auto\/p\/e9496d7d-24a5-43f5-a5ed-e5a774e86032\/4044023715\/metamask-unnamed.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">MetaMask<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/metamask.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/metamask.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vulnerability was first spotted by Halborn, an organization dedicated to the safety of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Halborn discovered<strong> a flaw in how browsers save information<\/strong> in September of 2021 and subsequently reported it to wallet vendors like MetaMask and Phantom for further investigation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone who\u2019s had any exposure to the world of cryptos will know that wallets don\u2019t work with passwords like everything else. Instead, <strong>most require you to enter a key<\/strong> comprised of numerous words in a specific order. This essentially makes it impossible for threat actors to use the usual means of determining your password, as there isn\u2019t a password to speak of. Instead, you have a phrase of random common nouns that means nothing to anyone except you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The newly discovered vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-32969, is caused by how browsers handle the safekeeping of this randomly generated phrase. There\u2019s a difference in the way browsers regard information entered into password fields &#8211; the box where you enter a standard password &#8211; and any other text field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, the text fields used for the randomly generated key you use for your crypto wallets <strong>don\u2019t count as password fields<\/strong> and therefore any text entered into them saves to the device&#8217;s disk drive as plain text. The reason why standard text fields are handled this way is so that your PC can recover information you\u2019ve entered after a crash. That information shouldn\u2019t include cryptocurrency wallet credentials, but unfortunately, it does.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Halborn, the issue is intensified when users check the \u2018Show Secret Recovery Phrase\u2019 checkbox while accessing their wallets. This check box specifically triggers local storage and is unfortunately incredibly commonly used due to crypto wallet phrases being long and difficult to memorize due to their<strong> randomly generated<\/strong> and illogical nature. Once this seed phrase is stored on your device\u2019s disk drive, it doesn\u2019t matter if you restart or reboot your system; the wallet key will remain on your device and accessible to threat actors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other news, there are numerous phishing pop-ups known to appear on big crypto websites. It seems the future may not rest safely with cryptocurrency until all of these vulnerabilities are sorted out.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Beware these phishing pop-ups on big crypto websites\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/f_auto,t_article_cover_xl\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/crypto-virus.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Beware these phishing pop-ups on big crypto websites<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/metamask.en.softonic.com\/articles\/phishing-pop-ups-crypto-websites\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">READ MORE<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/metamask.en.softonic.com\/articles\/phishing-pop-ups-crypto-websites\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The key to your seemingly secure cryptocurrency wallet is potentially not as well hidden as most think. As it turns out, there\u2019s a vulnerability within your browser that may give threat actors unbridled access to your crypto investments.&nbsp;MetaMask and Phantom are both concerned. The vulnerability was first spotted by Halborn, an organization dedicated to the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/metamask-warns-about-crypto-wallets\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;MetaMask and Phantom send alarming warnings about crypto wallets&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9222,"featured_media":194399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[3458],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-194393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionmetamask"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323680,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194393\/revisions\/323680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194393"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=194393"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=194393"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=194393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}