Trust Wallet users are being drained, with $5.1M stolen so far!

[Murat]

Trust Wallet users are being drained, with $5.1M stolen so far.

An exploit targeting devices running iOS 18.5 allows an unknown attacker to secretly extract victims seed phrases from their phones.

Trust Wallet support has asked users to update iOS as soon as possible.

https://x.com/TrustWallet/status/2118592671539192132

[mikel_012]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

It is important to notice that this is an issue with an exploit in old iOS versions and not trust wallet. With this exploit you can steal the data from many apps in the phone

[Murat]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

Fair question, I think some folks used old iphones as a hardware wallet to store their crypto.

With this new hardware wallet hacks/leaks people who were considering using old iphones to store crypto should rethink again.

[mikel_012]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

Fair question, I think some folks used old iphones as a hardware wallet to store their crypto.

With this new hardware wallet hacks/leaks people who were considering using old iphones to store crypto should rethink again.

I do not dislike the idea of using an old iphone, but only if the phone is always disconnected and you do not use it for anything but to use your crypto wallet

To suffer this exploit the user clicked on a malicious website and this was the mistake. The old phone needs to be only for Trust Wallet. You do not access youtube or social media with your Ledger Nano X, the same rule must apply to phones used for crypto holdings

- Coruna (iOS 13.0–17.2.1): Uses malicious websites to take advantage of iOS vulnerabilities and access sensitive information, including wallet data.
- DarkSword (iOS 18.4–18.7): Uses malicious websites to get around built-in iOS security protections and access sensitive information.

[Zwei]

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

i'm guessing some of the victims were using older iphones that lost support and could no longer be updated.
or maybe some were using bypassed iphones that you can't be updated or they will get locked again, but who knows, people do dumb shit.

It is important to notice that this is an issue with an exploit in old iOS versions and not trust wallet. With this exploit you can steal the data from many apps in the phone

i read that trust wallet were keeping seed phrases in raw plaintext RAM, if that's true, then they are also to blame.

To suffer this exploit the user clicked on a malicious website and this was the mistake. The old phone needs to be only for Trust Wallet. You do not access youtube or social media with your Ledger Nano X, the same rule must apply to phones used for crypto holdings

- Coruna (iOS 13.0–17.2.1): Uses malicious websites to take advantage of iOS vulnerabilities and access sensitive information, including wallet data.
- DarkSword (iOS 18.4–18.7): Uses malicious websites to get around built-in iOS security protections and access sensitive information.

this reminds me of some fake TRON energy rental websites that were targeting iOS users on the forum: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5593149.0

[Yamane_Keto]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

they might use an older device as wallet and that old iPhones are more secure, by connecting it to the internet only to send a transaction before disconnecting again. They assume this is safe because the device is used exclusively for transactions and not updating or downloading any new apps.

ZachXBT recommended this. stating that iPhones are secure for use as cryptocurrency wallets.

https://cryptoslate.com/is-using-an-old-iphone-is-safer-than-a-crypto-hardware-wallet-zachxbt-thinks-so/

ZachXBT recently argued that a dedicated iPhone offers better security than a hardware wallet, a line of reasoning that already splits crypto's security community

[logfiles]

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

You have to understand that not everyone quickly updates the device's OS as soon as it's realised and they could probably be people using much older devices that are no longer supported for the new update

It is important to notice that this is an issue with an exploit in old iOS versions and not trust wallet. With this exploit you can steal the data from many apps in the phone

it so happens that trust wallet is at the center of it. We could be seeing victims who are using other wallets that are supported by iOS too but we are not.

[Synchronice]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

Fair question, I think some folks used old iphones as a hardware wallet to store their crypto.

With this new hardware wallet hacks/leaks people who were considering using old iphones to store crypto should rethink again.

Old phones can be used as crypto storage if they are offline. If they are going online, then the firmware should be updated to the latest version or there is another option, keep phone in factory reset conditions and do not download anything when you connect online, do not visit any website, only use the internet for signing a transaction. I think that an average person will be safe with this approach but if someone actively uses old, unsupported smartphone with their crypto wallet installed on it, they are risking too much and playing with the fire.

[mikel_012]

It is important to notice that this is an issue with an exploit in old iOS versions and not trust wallet. With this exploit you can steal the data from many apps in the phone

it so happens that trust wallet is at the center of it. We could be seeing victims who are using other wallets that are supported by iOS too but we are not.

Yes. I think trust wallet is just the biggest wallet because they are owned by binance

If it was entirely the fault of trust wallet this would happen to every trust wallet user in every ios version

This is an exploit in iOS where they can read the app files of your phone just with a visit to a malicious website, it can happen to other wallets very easily

[FinneysTrueVision]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

It is important to notice that this is an issue with an exploit in old iOS versions and not trust wallet. With this exploit you can steal the data from many apps in the phone

Late 2024 and early 2025, when this update was released, was when they started adding different AI features into the operating system that take up a lot of storage. The base storage is always very low on Apple devices compared to Android and Windows manufacturers. This makes it impossible to install updates sometimes until you have deleted enough apps and files.

[r_victory]

Keeping the system updated is what prevents this type of problem. It's even questionable why someone would use an outdated system and still have a cryptocurrency wallet installed on that same system. The thing is, not everyone can afford a new, more up-to-date phone, and this ends up making them more vulnerable to attacks. I've had to change phones because I no longer received updates, which I think is absurd. Sometimes the time window isn't even that long, but since I have banking apps and wallets, I have to find a way to buy them.

[PrivacyG]

ZachXBT recommended this. stating that iPhones are secure for use as cryptocurrency wallets.

https://cryptoslate.com/is-using-an-old-iphone-is-safer-than-a-crypto-hardware-wallet-zachxbt-thinks-so/

ZachXBT recently argued that a dedicated iPhone offers better security than a hardware wallet, a line of reasoning that already splits crypto's security community

It really depends whether the said Hardware Wallet has any connection to the external World at all.  If yes, then an iPhone is just as good.  In other words, USELESS.

Hardware Wallets are supposed to be the safest method of storing your Bitcoin, and the safety and security is DRASTICALLY less when there are ways of connecting your Hardware Wallet to the external World.  Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, what ever it is, these all have vulnerabilities and are attack vectors.

iPhones are not the best security for your Bitcoin.  ZachXBT simply had a bad advice day and no one should follow it.

[RGBTC]

ZachXBT recommended this. stating that iPhones are secure for use as cryptocurrency wallets.

ZachXBT is not a cryptographic security expert, I think he thinks based on his past investigative activities (only limited to chain analysis) and also his own experience.

As far as I remember, it's not only recently that iOS has also had security reports, but also several times in the last few years they have revealed OS version vulnerabilities and (fortunately) always early encouraged users to update/install patches. However now the situation is different, attackers may have faster tools/capabilities than OS security researchers themselves to execute attacks.

[shinratensei_]

I can only question

Why are people using iOS 18.5?? This was launched in 2024, 2 years and they did not update their phones?

Fair question, I think some folks used old iphones as a hardware wallet to store their crypto.

With this new hardware wallet hacks/leaks people who were considering using old iphones to store crypto should rethink again.

You shouldn't confuse base version with updated version, 18.5 is released in may 2025 with all security patches, people who don't like liquid glass decided to stay with IOS 18 and darksword affect up to 18.7, security updates still being pushed for and Apple started fixing the exploit on 18.7.3, 18.7.7 finally patched the thing and fully closes the exploit. Even some IOS 26 got affected because it shared legacy code. So when the article talk about IOS 18 it's not the unupdated base version of IOS 18 only, it's talking about any IOS 18 version that still have the exploit.