The hidden risk of updatable firmware

Quick Summary:

There’s an inconvenient truth, however, that most people ignore: Firmware updates aren’t just security patches. They’re potential backdoors, waiting for someone — whether a hacker, a rogue developer or a shady third party — to kick them wide open.

Ledger, one of the biggest names in crypto security, had a major security crisis in 2018 when security researcher Saleem Rashid exposed a vulnerability that allowed attackers to replace Ledger Nano S firmware and hijack private keys.

If a regulatory agency — or worse, a criminal organization — wants access to private keys, firmware updates are the perfect attack vector.One hidden function.

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Article Details

Author / Journalist: Cointelegraph by Igor Zemtsov

Category: Crypto

Markets: United States

Topics: Wallet Crypto Time Updates Firmware Users Hackers Update Vulnerabilities Hardware Security

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Negative

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2025-04-24 @ 16:00:00 (11 hours ago)

News Timezone: GMT -5:00

News Source URL: cointelegraph.com

Language: English

Article Length: 830 words

Reading Time: 5 minutes read

Sentences: 59 lines

Sentence Length: 15 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © Coin Telegraph

News ID: 28195462

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About Coin Telegraph

Main Topics: Crypto

Official Website: cointelegraph.com

Update Frequency: 36 posts per day

Year Established: 2013

Headquarters: United States

News Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Coverage Areas: United States

Ownership: Independent Company

Publication Timezone: GMT -5:00

Content Availability: Worldwide

News Language: English

RSS Feed: Available (XML)

API Access: Available (JSON, REST)

Website Security: Secure (HTTPS)

Publisher ID: #11

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