Strange Electrum 4.0.9 console message

[NotATether]

I have fully verified my Electrum installation, but there is something strange I see when opening the console in Electrum 4.0.9.

Electrum usually displays a dialog not to enter random commands in there. It still shows that, but there is also this banner inside the top of the console itself:

Code:

>>> 
Welcome to
 _____      _     _                      _____   
| ____|_ __| |__ (_)_   _ _ __ ___      | ____|_   _ 
|  _| | '__| '_ \| | | | | '_ ` _ \     |  _| | | | | 
| |___| |  | |_) | | |_| | | | | | |    | |___| |_| |
|_____|_|  |_.__/|_|\__,_|_| |_| |_| || |_____|\__,_|
electrumx.erbium.eu

TCP     electrumx.erbium.eu 50001
SSL     electrumx.erbium.eu 50002

Tor:
TCP 3smoooajg7qqac2y.onion:50001

irc  : dunp, @freenode #electrum
email: erbium.sytes@gmail.com

Server is running out of SSD 
(7% left)  3.2.2021

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!
!!! It need to upgraded ASAP..                 !!!
!!! Please donate...  for fast server future.. !!! 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donate BTC: bc1qd6cn5r9gpz2qwta0tcz7xt8whae6q7qr00rwyq

Join Coinmotion.
https://app.coinmotion.com/en/register/signup?referral_code=juyvwj1tct0vo5vabuzo

Wirex debit card.
Get your card here https://wirexapp.com/r/Erbium1

Is this some kind of ad from wirex and coinmotion, or has my testing Electrum installation somehow been remote hacked? I don't recall ever doing anything that would lead to that possibility.

What's fishy is that there's a 7% SSD remaining message but my disk has nowhere near that much usage.

[1715540388]

1715540388

[1715540388]

1715540388

[1715540388]

1715540388

[ranochigo]

It's from the server that you're connected to. They can display any arbitrary message. It was probably put there by the owner for revenue from any referrals. SSD is the available disk space of the Electrum server you're connected to.

[NotATether]

It's from the server that you're connected to. They can display any arbitrary message. It was probably put there by the owner for revenue from any referrals. SSD is the available disk space of the Electrum server you're connected to.

It is possible that without closing the console, you get re-connected to a different server? Because just now I suddenly got this message (who am I kidding, this is figlet(1) text not a message) while working in the console:

Code:

>>> 
 _  __    _____ _____   _____ _   _ _     ____ ____  _   _ __  __
| |/ /___|  ___|  ___| |  ___| | | | |   / ___|  _ \| | | |  \/  |
| ' // _ \ |_  | |_    | |_  | | | | |  | |   | |_) | | | | |\/| |
| . \  __/  _| |  _|   |  _| | |_| | |__| |___|  _ <| |_| | |  | |
|_|\_\___|_|   |_|     |_|    \___/|_____\____|_| \_\\___/|_|  |_|

If that's not possible then that means servers can send you arbitrary messages at any time, which to me is pretty obtrusive and annoying.

[BitMaxz]

~snip~

Yes it's possible to connect to a different server without hiding the console but every time you connect to other servers it will add more text.
So I suggest you choose a server manually and look for a server that doesn't have annoying text.

Look at mine



I choose server manually the one listed on the server list you can also use that if you don't want annoying messages in the console.

[Dabs]

It's actually nice to see the server text's. You only get them once per connection, like a welcome screen. Some show info like what software or hardware they use. That's how I discovered Fulcrum, if you are considering running your own Electrum server.

[DireWolfM14]

Most servers I've connected to have a message, but it's usually just a donation address and little (if anything) more.  When they're short messages they're usually covered up by the warning message, and you may have never noticed them before.  I've connected to the same server NotATether mentioned in the OP not long ago, and found it annoying also.  Especially the referral links, that's just tacky.

[Dabs]

You can always clear out the console if you want to. Just select all the text (or parts of it) then cut them out. Or delete.

Here are a few I found interesting:

Welcome to korea.electrum-server.com ( electrumvdpku3tbjgpqxulza7svirpyq76ybxhkop2cwst3tnrxoead.onion ).
We are running ElectrumX 1.16.0, powered by Bitcoin Core 0.21.0
Hardware is configured with HPE Proliant DL360 Gen10 Server with Xeon Gold 6246R (16C @3.4GHz), 128GB RAM, and 8TB Samsung SSD.
Bare metal server hosted on KT Internet Datacenter with dedicated 1G internet connection.
We don't log your IP for your privacy, also we support Tor V3 connection as well.
Donations always appreciated

I swear you i don't log anything. I don't even have the disk space or computing power to log anything.
Electrum crashed TWENTYEIGHT times while syncing, because of the lack of RAM.
It's a miracle that this computer can run all the things it runs.

Code:

  _____ _                   
 |_   _| |__   ___ _ __ ___ 
   | | | '_ \ / _ \ '__/ _ \
   | | | | | |  __/ | |  __/
   |_| |_| |_|\___|_|  \___|
                            
  _                         
 (_)___                     
 | / __|                    
 | \__ \                    
 |_|___/                    
                            
                            
  _ __   ___                
 | '_ \ / _ \               
 | | | | (_) |              
 |_| |_|\___/               
                            
       _                 _  
   ___| | ___  _   _  __| | 
  / __| |/ _ \| | | |/ _` | 
 | (__| | (_) | |_| | (_| | 
  \___|_|\___/ \__,_|\__,_| 

[NotATether]

Here are a few I found interesting:

We don't log your IP for your privacy, also we support Tor V3 connection as well.

I swear you i don't log anything. I don't even have the disk space or computing power to log anything.

This is just fucked. So apparently its possible to log everyone's IP address from an SPV, and there's a real danger of this happening when the server is picked randomly.

We should host our own bitcointalk Electrum SPV with no ASCII art or other distracting stuff, maybe a single line saying "Unofficial bitcointalk ElectrumX server" on console initialization so people know it's us.

[DireWolfM14]

You can always clear out the console if you want to. Just select all the text (or parts of it) then cut them out. Or delete.

CTRL+L also works.

[NeuroticFish]

This is just fucked. So apparently its possible to log everyone's IP address from an SPV, and there's a real danger of this happening when the server is picked randomly.

We should host our own bitcointalk Electrum SPV with no ASCII art or other distracting stuff, maybe a single line saying "Unofficial bitcointalk ElectrumX server" on console initialization so people know it's us.

That's correct. SPV is bad for privacy. I'm sure you've read that here and there. Of course, some servers will be logging, some won't.
But who would host a "bitcointalk Electrum server"? Can you be so sure he won't log everything?

I mean that OK, there is at lest one user here with his own Electrum server, he posted here some years ago and you can ask him for IP. He said he won't log and I believe that.
It's mocacinno with private Electrum Server [bitcointalk members only]
(Maybe it can be discussed that we pay for the hosting and the trouble, if we go on this path. I don't know.)
But the more know about it, the more will be using it, even from outside bitcointalk. So, again, I don't know...

And that ASCII logo can be deceiving. Others may imitate it and fool other users.

[Dabs]

It's always been possible for servers to log anything, and for the servers in between you and the final destination to log everything. I think some of them may be logging for support purposes or to fix any errors, but most will not really care who has what addresses and it's all too much data if they are all on the internet.

So ... some use their own as servers. I noticed there is an aantonop.com server, and it's his website. Maybe he doesn't log (maybe he does, altho unlikely) as he has lots of videos and wrote books on bitcoin and other crypto.

There is an Electrum Personal Server, but that only connects to one wallet. If you only have one wallet at a time, it may work for you. Of course, you need a full bitcoin node and all the blockchain data as well (it connects to bitcoin core wallet).

I'll try it one of these days but probably the ElectrumX versions.. Maybe the Fulcrum one as that looks like a drop in replacement.

[phreess]

I have fully verified my Electrum installation, but there is something strange I see when opening the console in Electrum 4.0.9.

Electrum usually displays a dialog not to enter random commands in there. It still shows that, but there is also this banner inside the top of the console itself:

Code:

>>> 
Welcome to
 _____      _     _                      _____   
| ____|_ __| |__ (_)_   _ _ __ ___      | ____|_   _ 
|  _| | '__| '_ \| | | | | '_ ` _ \     |  _| | | | | 
| |___| |  | |_) | | |_| | | | | | |    | |___| |_| |
|_____|_|  |_.__/|_|\__,_|_| |_| |_| || |_____|\__,_|
electrumx.erbium.eu

TCP     electrumx.erbium.eu 50001
SSL     electrumx.erbium.eu 50002

Tor:
TCP 3smoooajg7qqac2y.onion:50001

irc  : dunp, @freenode #electrum
email: erbium.sytes@gmail.com

Server is running out of SSD 
(7% left)  3.2.2021

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!
!!! It need to upgraded ASAP..                 !!!
!!! Please donate...  for fast server future.. !!! 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donate BTC: bc1qd6cn5r9gpz2qwta0tcz7xt8whae6q7qr00rwyq

Join Coinmotion.
https://app.coinmotion.com/en/register/signup?referral_code=juyvwj1tct0vo5vabuzo

Wirex debit card.
Get your card here https://wirexapp.com/r/Erbium1

Is this some kind of ad from wirex and coinmotion, or has my testing Electrum installation somehow been remote hacked? I don't recall ever doing anything that would lead to that possibility.

What's fishy is that there's a 7% SSD remaining message but my disk has nowhere near that much usage.

Just create a private server and no messages like that will ever appear again

[pooya87]

If that's not possible then that means servers can send you arbitrary messages at any time, which to me is pretty obtrusive and annoying.

Since these messages only appear in the console and the Electrum console already has a big ass warning telling users to be cautious I don't think this is a severe problem (like the one that we had with version 3.3.?). But maybe it is time to had-code these messages too.
For example server could be allowed to return a name that is not a URI and a donation address only (maybe some additional information like their node best height, index depth,etc.)

[ranochigo]

This is just fucked. So apparently its possible to log everyone's IP address from an SPV, and there's a real danger of this happening when the server is picked randomly.

We should host our own bitcointalk Electrum SPV with no ASCII art or other distracting stuff, maybe a single line saying "Unofficial bitcointalk ElectrumX server" on console initialization so people know it's us.

Of course. It's quite widely known that Electrum is the absolute worst from the privacy aspect, and SPVs in general, with few exceptions. If you're relying on any server for any information, it is safe to assume that there can be some form of logging, be it through the IP or by collating the addresses.

Don't think it's wise to be using "Bitcointalk" as a branding (even if it's official or not); most of the servers are run by people that has been doing so for a long time. If you truly care about privacy and security, then run your own server. You cannot guarantee if someone is not logging your connections, even if it's accidental. 

[Dabs]

More messages I found:

>>>
Welcome to electrum.emzy.de
- Location: Germany
- Please message Emzy on IRC freenode: #electrum or @emzys at Telegram with issues or suggestions.
- ElectrumX version: 1.14.0
- bitcoin-core version: 0.21.0 /Satoshi:0.21.0(@emzy)/

*** THE SERVER DOES NOT KEEP A LONG TIME LOG OF ANY IP ADDRESS AND BITCOIN ADDRESS! ***
But I need to have a short time log for my DDoS protection to work.

Code:

    .___.__       .__  __         .__                           
  __| _/|__| ____ |__|/  |______  |  |                          
 / __ | |  |/ ___\|  \   __\__  \ |  |                          
/ /_/ | |  / /_/  >  ||  |  / __ \|  |__                        
\____ | |__\___  /|__||__| (____  /____/                        
     \/   /_____/               \/                              
                                                                
  _______  __ ___________ ___.__.__  _  _______ _______   ____  
_/ __ \  \/ // __ \_  __ <   |  |\ \/ \/ /\__  \\_  __ \_/ __ \ 
\  ___/\   /\  ___/|  | \/\___  | \     /  / __ \|  | \/\  ___/ 
 \___  >\_/  \___  >__|   / ____|  \/\_/  (____  /__|    \___  >
     \/          \/       \/                   \/            \/ 

Welcome to the Electrum servers at digitaleveryware.com

We run electrumx 1.16.0  on  bitcoind 0.20.0 

Donation address: 38jZDhfiGAsBGMNzFjitGa5bZdWJkamN9m

Location: Nevada, USA
Coords:   N 36° 10' W 115° 17'
Network:  Gigabit
DB Drive: SSD
DB:       leveldb
RAM:      16GB
OS:       Debian Linux 

The admin of this server is reachable at mjd@digitaleveryware.com .

I kinda like the simple ascii art, plus this last server even broadcasts it's own location.