Ledger Responds to Ethereum Application Vulnerability FUD, Claims Fixes Implemented
Ledger's security chief Charles Guillemet stated that the FUD regarding the Ledger signer was driven by a smart contract security company that claimed there was a vulnerability in the Ledger Ethereum application.
The actual issue was a bug in certain clear signing processes, discovered by Ledger's internal Donjon team using an AI-driven vulnerability research suite, which was fixed and deployed two weeks ago. Keeping the application updated will ensure protection.
The company contacted the bounty program only after the fix was live, failing to follow responsible disclosure, and did not discuss with the bounty team, later posting to imply that the issue remained unresolved. Guillemet stated this was not security research but rather fear-mongering for attention.
He emphasized that AI has changed the landscape of offense and defense, with Donjon using AI to identify real issues before vulnerabilities impact users, but research must adhere to basic security principles: responsible disclosure and pre-release validation.
The controversy over hardware wallet security continues, with funds and attention shifting towards timely updates and responsible disclosure practices, benefiting users who keep their firmware and applications up to date, while putting pressure on those who create unverified panic. The focus of event-driven security research is shifting from discovery to the prioritization of disclosure norms.
Source: Public Information
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Ledger has long maintained hardware wallet security through its internal red team, Donjon, focusing its capital path on security research and bounty programs, and has previously responded publicly to vulnerability-related controversies.
Resources are invested in AI-assisted vulnerability discovery, motivated by the desire to fix issues before external researchers do, but external companies bypassing responsible disclosure to directly publish have triggered FUD backlash.
This is analogous to the early public disputes between hardware wallets and smart contract auditing companies, as current security research transitions from manual audits to AI-accelerated discovery, with the industry shifting focus from the vulnerabilities themselves to the timing and motives of disclosures.
Essentially, this is a conflict of norms accelerated by technological substitution; while AI speeds up vulnerability discovery, failing to adhere to disclosure principles amplifies noise, as mechanisms allow issues to be packaged as unresolved threats for traffic even after fixes are deployed.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
Updating is the simplest and most effective protection
Responsible disclosure distinguishes research from FUD
AI accelerates discovery but also amplifies noise