When Your Crypto Wallet Turns Into a Comedy of Errors: XRP’s JavaScript Fiasco
It happened rather quietly, like a mouse creeping over the floorboards at midnight, yet it left the inhabitants quite shaken. The XRP Ledger, that grand edifice of digital finance, found itself undone by a most mundane culprit—a JavaScript library called xrpl.js. Imagine, a chain forged in code undone by a single link slipping loose, allowing thieves to pilfer private keys as casually as locals might borrow sugar.
Aikido Security, those vigilant sentries, raised their banners of warning, which even the esteemed Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, could not deny. Not all was lost—no, some noble wallets like Xaman and the ever-watchful XRPScan stood unscathed, like sturdy oaks in a sudden storm.
The infirm versions, 4.2.1 through 4.2.4, as well as 2.14.2, had succumbed to the weakness, but brave newer editions 4.2.5 and 2.14.3 arrived promptly to patch the breach. The tale might end here were it not for a vocal critic—Peter Todd, a Bitcoin developer, who seemed to wear the scars of past warnings like badges of honor.
“A decade,” he sighed, “and still no proper PGP signing,”—between the lines, a hint of sarcasm sharper than a winter wind. The poor man, delivering truths with such persistence, reminded the crowd of Ripple’s oversight as if recounting a familiar, exasperating family story.
10 years after I pointed out the risk of a Ripple backdoor due to Ripple not PGP signing their software or providing any other way to get it securely… there’s a a Ripple backdoor due to an npm compromise.
— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) April 23, 2025
Even Peter’s own house was not without cracks—his Python Library lacked PGP signing, victims of the industry’s strange obsession with convenience over security. He called the entire field “incompetent,” an understatement worthy of a schoolmaster observing students perpetually failing the same test.
And then there was “mukulljangid,” a mischievous sprite who slipped in on April 21, 2025, introducing a devious function—one that stole keys as deftly as a pickpocket at a crowded market. Using the compromised npm account of a hapless Ripple employee, this trickster danced between versions, evading notice but—fortunately—leaving no trace in the sacred GitHub halls.
The XRP Ledger Foundation, with all the solemnity of a town council at a mischief summons meeting, declared the infected versions banished. Developers were sternly advised to embrace the newer editions without delay, and a formal report was promised, like a court verdict to follow.
To clarify: This vulnerability is in xrpl.js, a JavaScript library for interacting with the XRP Ledger. It does NOT affect the XRP Ledger codebase or Github repository itself. Projects using xrpl.js should upgrade to v4.2.5 immediately.
— XRP Ledger Foundation (Official) (@XRPLF) April 22, 2025
As the dust settled, the episode became yet another chapter in the grand comedy of software development—a reminder that in the cryptic world where fortunes rest on invisible ledgers, even the smallest oversight can invite chaos. One might smile wryly, clutching their wallet a little tighter, as the digital theatre goes on.
🤡🔑🕵️♂️
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2025-04-24 14:24