- Researchers have discovered a critical flaw in Apple’s ‘M’ chips made in the last five years
- The flaw allows hackers to access crypto wallets on Apple Mac computers
- The researchers said there’s no way to fix the problem
Apple has made it easy for hackers to steal funds from crypto wallets on Apple Macs and other devices powered by the tech giant’s M1, M2, and M3 processors. According to researchers, there’s a critical flaw in these processors that lets malicious actors maneuver their way into crypto wallets without requiring permission from their owners. The vulnerability allows hackers to access cryptographic keys used in the chips to protect unauthorized access to sensitive data stored by users, something that puts crypto wallet users on Mac computers at a disadvantage.
It Can Only be Mitigated, Not Fixed
The researchers revealed that an attack riding on this flaw can target cryptographic keys used to encrypt browser information. This would give hackers access to keys encrypting data belonging to MetaMask, iCloud, and other accounts. Unfortunately, the flaw “can’t be patched.”
Newly discovered vuln in Apple M-series chips lets attackers extract secret keys from Macs. “The flaw—a side channel allowing end-to-end key extractions when Apple chips run…widely used cryptographic protocols—can’t be patched” https://t.co/yjQTogcIzk
— Kim Zetter (@KimZetter) March 21, 2024
Apple acknowledged being notified about the vulnerability by the researchers. The company said that Mac users can protect themselves by reducing their machine’s processing speeds. Other possible ways to mitigate the attack can only be initiated by Apple or application developers.
The discovery comes roughly 10 months after a new crypto hacking threat targeting MacOS users emerged. The threat used malware designed to steal Mac users’ system information. In January, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky also discovered a new MacOS backdoor that targets crypto wallets.
Pirated Software Creates Backdoor to Crypto Wallets
According to Kaspersky, the backdoor was created by malicious software released into the system when a Mac user downloaded infected pirated software.
Since using the flaw to steal cryptocurrency consumes a lot of time and resources, hackers may perform preliminary investigations as to which crypto wallets are worth the time and resources.
