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Electrum ships version 4.8.3 to close wallet flaw exploited to divert Bitcoin payments
The developers of the Electrum Bitcoin wallet have released version 4.8.3 after malicious servers exploited a flaw in the software. According to crypto.news, the exploit sent payments through fake fee bumps and led to confirmed losses.
How the exploit operated
According to crypto.news, malicious servers used a flaw in Electrum to push payments along a different path by means of fake fee bumps. A fee bump raises the fee on a Bitcoin transaction so that it can be confirmed more quickly, and the report says that this mechanism was turned against users.
Version 4.8.3 addresses the flaw
Electrum's release of version 4.8.3 is the fix for the flaw. Because the correction is delivered through the software itself, people who run the wallet are the ones who must install it.
Open questions
- How much money was taken in total?
- How many users were affected?