https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/Recent content in 2025 on The Trail of Bits BlogHugoen-usWed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/31/detect-gos-silent-arithmetic-bugs-with-go-panikint/Wed, 31 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/31/detect-gos-silent-arithmetic-bugs-with-go-panikint/We’re releasing go-panikint, a modified Go compiler that turns silent integer overflows into explicit panics. We used it to find a live integer overflow in the Cosmos SDK’s RPC pagination logic, showing how this approach eliminates a major blind spot for anyone fuzzing Go projects.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/19/can-chatbots-craft-correct-code/Fri, 19 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/19/can-chatbots-craft-correct-code/LLMs fundamentally differ from compilers because they lack determinism and semantic guarantees, making them useful coding assistants but unreliable for autonomous code generation without human review and formal verification.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/16/use-gwp-asan-to-detect-exploits-in-production-environments/Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/16/use-gwp-asan-to-detect-exploits-in-production-environments/GWP-ASan is a sampling-based memory error detection tool that catches critical bugs like use-after-free and buffer overflows in production environments with near-zero performance overhead, unlike AddressSanitizer which is too resource-intensive for deployment.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/12/catching-malicious-package-releases-using-a-transparency-log/Fri, 12 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/12/catching-malicious-package-releases-using-a-transparency-log/We’re getting Sigstore’s rekor-monitor ready for production use, making it easier for developers to detect tampering and unauthorized uses of their identities in the Rekor transparency log.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/11/introducing-mrva-a-terminal-first-approach-to-codeql-multi-repo-variant-analysis/Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/11/introducing-mrva-a-terminal-first-approach-to-codeql-multi-repo-variant-analysis/Our new tool mrva is a terminal-first tool for running CodeQL multi-repository variant analysis locally,allowing users to download pre-built databases, analyze them with custom queries, and view results directly in the terminal.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/02/introducing-constant-time-support-for-llvm-to-protect-cryptographic-code/Tue, 02 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/12/02/introducing-constant-time-support-for-llvm-to-protect-cryptographic-code/Trail of Bits developed constant-time coding support for LLVM that prevents compilers from breaking cryptographic implementations vulnerable to timing attacks, introducing the __builtin_ct_select family of intrinsics that preserve constant-time properties throughout compilation.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/18/we-found-cryptography-bugs-in-the-elliptic-library-using-wycheproof/Tue, 18 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/18/we-found-cryptography-bugs-in-the-elliptic-library-using-wycheproof/Trail of Bits discovered and disclosed two vulnerabilities in the widely used elliptic JavaScript library that could allow signature forgery or prevent valid signature verification, with one vulnerability still unfixed after the 90-day disclosure window.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/15/level-up-your-solidity-llm-tooling-with-slither-mcp/Sat, 15 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/15/level-up-your-solidity-llm-tooling-with-slither-mcp/We’re releasing Slither-MCP, a new tool that augments LLMs with Slither’s unmatched static analysis engine.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/14/how-we-avoided-side-channels-in-our-new-post-quantum-go-cryptography-libraries/Fri, 14 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/14/how-we-avoided-side-channels-in-our-new-post-quantum-go-cryptography-libraries/We&rsquo;ve released open-source Go implementations of ML-DSA and SLH-DSA.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/13/building-checksec-without-boundaries-with-checksec-anywhere/Thu, 13 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/13/building-checksec-without-boundaries-with-checksec-anywhere/Checksec Anywhere consolidates fragmented binary security analysis tools into a browser-based platform that analyzes ELF, PE, and Mach-O formats locally without compromising privacy or performance.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/07/balancer-hack-analysis-and-guidance-for-the-defi-ecosystem/Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/11/07/balancer-hack-analysis-and-guidance-for-the-defi-ecosystem/A retrospective on the $100M Balancer hack that occurred in November 2025, including long-term, strategic guidance on how to avoid similar bugs.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/31/the-cryptography-behind-electronic-passports/Fri, 31 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/31/the-cryptography-behind-electronic-passports/This blog post describes how electronic passports work, the threats within their threat model, and how they protect against those threats using cryptography. It also discusses the implications of using electronic passports for novel applications, such as zero-knowledge identity proofs.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/30/vulnerabilities-in-luks2-disk-encryption-for-confidential-vms/Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/30/vulnerabilities-in-luks2-disk-encryption-for-confidential-vms/Trail of Bits is disclosing vulnerabilities in confidential computing systems that use LUKS2 for disk encryption. These vulnerabilities allow attackers with access to storage disks to extract confidential data and modify contents.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/22/prompt-injection-to-rce-in-ai-agents/Wed, 22 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/10/22/prompt-injection-to-rce-in-ai-agents/We bypassed human approval protections for system command execution in AI agents, achieving RCE in three agent platforms.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/25/taming-2500-compiler-warnings-with-codeql-an-openvpn2-case-study/Thu, 25 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/25/taming-2500-compiler-warnings-with-codeql-an-openvpn2-case-study/We created a CodeQL query that reduced 2,500+ compiler warnings about implicit conversions in OpenVPN2 to just 20 high-priority cases, demonstrating how to effectively identify potentially dangerous type conversions in C code.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/24/supply-chain-attacks-are-exploiting-our-assumptions/Wed, 24 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/24/supply-chain-attacks-are-exploiting-our-assumptions/Supply chain attacks exploit fundamental trust assumptions in modern software development, from typosquatting to compromised build pipelines, while new defensive tools are emerging to make these trust relationships explicit and verifiable.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/18/use-mutation-testing-to-find-the-bugs-your-tests-dont-catch/Thu, 18 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/18/use-mutation-testing-to-find-the-bugs-your-tests-dont-catch/Mutation testing reveals blind spots in test suites by systematically introducing bugs and checking if tests catch them. Blockchain developers should use mutation testing to measure the effectiveness of their test suites and find bugs that traditional testing can miss.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/16/ficklings-new-ai/ml-pickle-file-scanner/Tue, 16 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/16/ficklings-new-ai/ml-pickle-file-scanner/We&rsquo;ve added a pickle file scanner to Fickling that uses an allowlist approach to protect AI/ML environments from malicious pickle files that could compromise models or infrastructure.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/10/how-sui-move-rethinks-flash-loan-security/Wed, 10 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/10/how-sui-move-rethinks-flash-loan-security/Sui’s Move language significantly improves flash loan security by replacing Solidity’s reliance on callbacks and runtime checks with a “hot potato” model that enforces repayment at the language level. This shift makes flash loan security a language guarantee rather than a developer responsibility.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/05/safer-cold-storage-on-ethereum/Fri, 05 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/05/safer-cold-storage-on-ethereum/By using smart contract programmability, exchanges can build custody solutions that remain secure even when multisig keys are compromised.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/03/subverting-code-integrity-checks-to-locally-backdoor-signal-1password-slack-and-more/Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/09/03/subverting-code-integrity-checks-to-locally-backdoor-signal-1password-slack-and-more/A vulnerability in Electron applications allows attackers to bypass code integrity checks by tampering with V8 heap snapshot files, enabling local backdoors in applications like Signal, 1Password, and Slack.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/28/intern-projects-that-outlived-the-internship/Thu, 28 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/28/intern-projects-that-outlived-the-internship/Our business operations intern at Trail of Bits built two AI-powered tools that became permanent company resources—a podcast workflow that saves 1,250 hours annually and a Slack exporter that enables efficient knowledge retrieval across the organization.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/27/implement-eip-7730-today/Wed, 27 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/27/implement-eip-7730-today/EIP-7730 enables hardware wallets to decode transactions into human-readable formats, eliminating blind signing vulnerabilities with minimal implementation effort for dApp developers.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/25/speedrunning-the-new-york-subway/Mon, 25 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/25/speedrunning-the-new-york-subway/We optimized the route for visiting every NYC subway station using algorithms from combinatorial optimization, creating a 20-hour tour that beats the existing world record by 45 minutes.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/21/weaponizing-image-scaling-against-production-ai-systems/Thu, 21 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/21/weaponizing-image-scaling-against-production-ai-systems/In this blog post, we’ll detail how attackers can exploit image scaling on Gemini CLI, Vertex AI Studio, Gemini’s web and API interfaces, Google Assistant, Genspark, and other production AI systems. We’ll also explain how to mitigate and defend against these attacks, and we’ll introduce Anamorpher, our open-source tool that lets you explore and generate these crafted images.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/20/marshal-madness-a-brief-history-of-ruby-deserialization-exploits/Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/20/marshal-madness-a-brief-history-of-ruby-deserialization-exploits/This post traces the decade-long evolution of Ruby Marshal deserialization exploits, demonstrating how security researchers have repeatedly bypassed patches and why fundamental changes to the Ruby ecosystem are needed rather than continued patch-and-hope approaches.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/09/trail-of-bits-buttercup-wins-2nd-place-in-aixcc-challenge/Sat, 09 Aug 2025 10:30:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/09/trail-of-bits-buttercup-wins-2nd-place-in-aixcc-challenge/Our team won the runner-up prize of $3M at DARPA&rsquo;s AI Cyber Challenge, demonstrating Buttercup&rsquo;s world-class automated vulnerability discovery and patching capabilities with remarkable cost efficiency.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/08/buttercup-is-now-open-source/Fri, 08 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/08/buttercup-is-now-open-source/Now that DARPA&rsquo;s AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) has officially ended, we can finally make Buttercup, our CRS (Cyber Reasoning System), open source!https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/07/aixcc-finals-tale-of-the-tape/Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/07/aixcc-finals-tale-of-the-tape/While the AIxCC winner has not yet been announced, differences in the finalists&rsquo; approaches show that there are multiple viable paths forward to using AI for vulnerability detection.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/prompt-injection-engineering-for-attackers-exploiting-github-copilot/Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/prompt-injection-engineering-for-attackers-exploiting-github-copilot/Prompt injection pervades discussions about security for LLMs and AI agents. But there is little public information on how to write powerful, discreet, and reliable prompt injection exploits. In this post, we will design and implement a prompt injection exploit targeting GitHub’s Copilot Agent, with a focus on maximizing reliability and minimizing the odds of detection.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/04/uncovering-memory-corruption-in-nvidia-triton-as-a-new-hire/Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/04/uncovering-memory-corruption-in-nvidia-triton-as-a-new-hire/In my first month at Trail of Bits as an AI/ML security engineer, I found two remotely accessible memory corruption bugs in NVIDIA’s Triton Inference Server during a routine onboarding practice.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/01/the-unconventional-innovator-scholarship/Fri, 01 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/01/the-unconventional-innovator-scholarship/Trail of Bits founder Dan Guido establishes a $2,500 scholarship at his alma mater, Mineola High School, to recognize students who demonstrate the hacker spirit through self-driven learning, creative problem-solving, and unconventional technological exploration. The scholarship celebrates tomorrow&rsquo;s security innovators who push boundaries and think differently about technology.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/31/hijacking-multi-agent-systems-in-your-pajamas/Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/31/hijacking-multi-agent-systems-in-your-pajamas/We’re releasing pajaMAS: a curated set of MAS hijacking demos that illustrate important principles of MAS security.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/28/we-built-the-security-layer-mcp-always-needed/Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/28/we-built-the-security-layer-mcp-always-needed/Today we’re announcing the beta release of mcp-context-protector, a security wrapper for LLM apps using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It defends against the line jumping attacks documented earlier in this blog series, such as prompt injection via tool descriptions and ANSI terminal escape codes.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/25/exploiting-zero-days-in-abandoned-hardware/Fri, 25 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/25/exploiting-zero-days-in-abandoned-hardware/We successfully exploited two discontinued network devices at DistrictCon’s inaugural Junkyard competition in February, winning runner-up for Most Innovative Exploitation Technique. Our exploit chains demonstrate why end-of-life hardware poses persistent security risks.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/23/inside-ethcc8-becoming-a-smart-contract-auditor/Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/23/inside-ethcc8-becoming-a-smart-contract-auditor/At EthCC[8], Trail of Bits blockchain security engineer Nicolas Donboly laid out a clear, actionable path for aspiring smart contract auditors, drawing from his own experience transitioning from a non-technical background into a leading security role.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/21/detecting-code-copying-at-scale-with-vendetect/Mon, 21 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/21/detecting-code-copying-at-scale-with-vendetect/Vendetect is our new open-source tool for detecting copied and vendored code between repositories. It uses semantic fingerprinting to identify similar code even when variable names change or comments disappear. More importantly, unlike academic plagiarism detectors, it understands version control history, helping you trace vendored code back to its exact source commit.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/18/building-secure-messaging-is-hard-a-nuanced-take-on-the-bitchat-security-debate/Fri, 18 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/18/building-secure-messaging-is-hard-a-nuanced-take-on-the-bitchat-security-debate/The release of Bitchat last week was met with a mixture of glowing praise and sharp criticism. Both extremes bear some truth, but they also miss the mark and reveal gaps in how we discuss security in emerging products.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/08/investigate-your-dependencies-with-deptective/Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/08/investigate-your-dependencies-with-deptective/Deptective, our new open-source tool, automatically finds the packages needed to install software dependencies. It does so not based on the software&rsquo;s self-reported requirements, but by observing what the software needs at runtime.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/02/buckle-up-buttercup-aixccs-scored-round-is-underway/Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/07/02/buckle-up-buttercup-aixccs-scored-round-is-underway/Our CRS (Cyber Reasoning System), Buttercup, is now competing in the one and only scored round of DARPA’s AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) against six other teams to see which autonomous AI-driven system can find and patch the most software vulnerabilities.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/25/maturing-your-smart-contracts-beyond-private-key-risk/Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/25/maturing-your-smart-contracts-beyond-private-key-risk/Private key compromise accounted for 43.8% of crypto hacks in 2024, yet traditional smart contract audits rarely address architectural access control weaknesses. This post introduces a four-level maturity framework for designing protocols that can tolerate key compromise, progressing from single EOA control to radical immutability, with practical examples demonstrating multisigs, timelocks, and the principle of least privilege.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/17/unexpected-security-footguns-in-gos-parsers/Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/17/unexpected-security-footguns-in-gos-parsers/File parsers in Go contain unexpected behaviors that can lead to serious security vulnerabilities. This post examines how JSON, XML, and YAML parsers in Go handle edge cases in ways that have repeatedly resulted in high-impact security issues in production systems. We explore three real-world attack scenarios: marshaling/unmarshaling unexpected data, exploiting parser differentials, and leveraging data format confusion. Through examples, we demonstrate how attackers can bypass authentication, circumvent authorization controls, and exfiltrate sensitive data by exploiting these parser behaviors.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/10/what-we-learned-reviewing-one-of-the-first-dkls23-libraries-from-silence-laboratories/Tue, 10 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/06/10/what-we-learned-reviewing-one-of-the-first-dkls23-libraries-from-silence-laboratories/In October 2023, we audited Silence Laboratories’ DKLs23 threshold signature scheme (TSS) library—one of the first production implementations of this then-novel protocol that uses oblivious transfer (OT) instead of traditional Paillier cryptography. Our review uncovered serious flaws that could enable key destruction attacks, which Silence Laboratories promptly fixed.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/30/a-deep-dive-into-axioms-halo2-circuits/Fri, 30 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/30/a-deep-dive-into-axioms-halo2-circuits/Over two audits in 2023, we reviewed a blockchain system developed by Axiom that allows computing over the entire history of Ethereum, all verified by zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) on-chain using ZK-verified elliptic curve and SNARK recursion operations. This system is built using the Halo2 framework—a complex, emerging technology that presents many challenges when building a secure application, including potential under-constrained issues resulting from its low-level API.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/29/the-custodial-stablecoin-rekt-test/Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/29/the-custodial-stablecoin-rekt-test/Introducing the Custodial Stablecoin Rekt Test; a new spin on the classic Rekt Test for evaluating the security maturity of stablecoin issuers.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/14/the-cryptography-behind-passkeys/Wed, 14 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/14/the-cryptography-behind-passkeys/This post will examine the cryptography behind passkeys, the guarantees they do or do not give, and interesting cryptographic things you can do with them, such as generating cryptographic keys and storing certificates.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/02/datasig-fingerprinting-ai/ml-datasets-to-stop-data-borne-attacks/Fri, 02 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/02/datasig-fingerprinting-ai/ml-datasets-to-stop-data-borne-attacks/Datasig generates compact, unique fingerprints for AI/ML datasets that let you compare training data with high accuracy—without needing access to the raw data itself.<br> This critical capability helps AIBOM (AI bill of materials) tools detect data-borne vulnerabilities that traditional security tools completely miss.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/01/making-pypis-test-suite-81-faster/Thu, 01 May 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/05/01/making-pypis-test-suite-81-faster/See how we slashed PyPI&rsquo;s test suite runtime from 163 to 30 seconds.<br> The techniques we share can help you dramatically improve your own project&rsquo;s<br> testing performance without sacrificing coverage.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/30/insecure-credential-storage-plagues-mcp/Wed, 30 Apr 2025 03:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/30/insecure-credential-storage-plagues-mcp/This post describes how many examples of MCP software store long-term API keys for third-party services in plaintext on the local filesystem, often with insecure, world-readable permissions.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/29/deceiving-users-with-ansi-terminal-codes-in-mcp/Tue, 29 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/29/deceiving-users-with-ansi-terminal-codes-in-mcp/This post describes attacks using ANSI terminal code escape sequences to hide malicious instructions to the LLM, leveraging the line jumping vulnerability we discovered in MCP.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/23/how-mcp-servers-can-steal-your-conversation-history/Wed, 23 Apr 2025 10:30:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/23/how-mcp-servers-can-steal-your-conversation-history/Malicious MCP servers can inject trigger phrases into tool descriptions to exfiltrate entire conversation histories and steal sensitive credentials and IP.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/21/jumping-the-line-how-mcp-servers-can-attack-you-before-you-ever-use-them/Mon, 21 Apr 2025 10:30:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/21/jumping-the-line-how-mcp-servers-can-attack-you-before-you-ever-use-them/MCP&rsquo;s &rsquo;line jumping&rsquo; vulnerability lets malicious servers inject prompts through tool descriptions to manipulate AI behavior before tools are ever invoked.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/21/kicking-off-aixccs-finals-with-buttercup/Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/21/kicking-off-aixccs-finals-with-buttercup/Trail of Bits&rsquo; Buttercup competes in DARPA&rsquo;s AIxCC Finals with expanded resources, multiple rounds, new challenge types, and custom AI model capabilities.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/18/sneak-peek-a-new-asn.1-api-for-python/Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/18/sneak-peek-a-new-asn.1-api-for-python/We&rsquo;re working on integrating an ASN.1 API into PyCA Cryptography,<br> built on top of the same Rust ASN.1 implementation already used by<br> Cryptography&rsquo;s X.509 APIs.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/17/mitigating-elusive-comet-zoom-remote-control-attacks/Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/17/mitigating-elusive-comet-zoom-remote-control-attacks/This post describes a sophisticated social engineering campaign using Zoom&rsquo;s remote control feature and provides technical solutions to protect organizations against this attack vector.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/09/introducing-a-new-section-on-snapshot-fuzzing-for-kernel-level-testing-in-the-testing-handbook/Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0400https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/04/09/introducing-a-new-section-on-snapshot-fuzzing-for-kernel-level-testing-in-the-testing-handbook/Learn snapshot fuzzing for kernel-level testing. New Testing Handbook section shows how to test drivers, antivirus software, and complex kernel components.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/03/06/benchmarking-opensearch-and-elasticsearch/Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/03/06/benchmarking-opensearch-and-elasticsearch/Trail of Bits&rsquo; independent study finds OpenSearch v2.17.1 is 1.6x faster than Elasticsearch v8.15.4 on Big5 workload and 11% faster on vector search.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/03/03/continuous-trail/Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/03/03/continuous-trail/Learn how to integrate TRAIL threat modeling into your SDLC, adapt and maintain models as your system evolves, and use them to identify security control gaps.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/28/threat-modeling-the-trail-of-bits-way/Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/28/threat-modeling-the-trail-of-bits-way/Discover TRAIL, Trail of Bits&rsquo; systematic threat modeling approach that identifies design-level security weaknesses and provides actionable remediation guidance.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/25/how-threat-modeling-could-have-prevented-the-1.5b-bybit-hack/Tue, 25 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/25/how-threat-modeling-could-have-prevented-the-1.5b-bybit-hack/Learn how comprehensive threat modeling could have identified the operational security gaps that led to Bybit&rsquo;s $1.5B hack and prevented similar breaches.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/21/dont-recurse-on-untrusted-input/Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/21/dont-recurse-on-untrusted-input/We developed a simple CodeQL query to find denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerabilities in several high-profile Java projects.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/21/the-1.5b-bybit-hack-the-era-of-operational-security-failures-has-arrived/Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/21/the-1.5b-bybit-hack-the-era-of-operational-security-failures-has-arrived/The $1.5B Bybit Hack demonstrates how the Era of Operational Security Failures has arrived, and most cryptocurrency companies are not prepared for its implications.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/14/unleashing-medusa-fast-and-scalable-smart-contract-fuzzing/Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/14/unleashing-medusa-fast-and-scalable-smart-contract-fuzzing/Introducing Medusa v1, a cutting-edge fuzzing framework designed to enhance smart contract security.https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/13/were-partnering-to-strengthen-tons-defi-ecosystem/Thu, 13 Feb 2025 09:00:03 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/13/were-partnering-to-strengthen-tons-defi-ecosystem/TVM Ventures has selected Trail of Bits as its preferred security partner to strengthen the TON developer ecosystem. Through this partnership, we’ll lead the development of DeFi protocol standards and provide comprehensive security services to contest-winning projects deploying on TON. TVM Ventures will host ongoing developer contests where teams can showcase innovative applications that advance […]https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/12/the-call-for-invariant-driven-development/Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:30:36 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/12/the-call-for-invariant-driven-development/Writing smart contracts requires a higher level of security assurance than most other fields of software engineering. The industry has evolved from simple ERC20 tokens to complex, multi-component DeFi systems that leverage domain-specific algorithms and handle significant monetary value. This evolution has unlocked immense potential but has also introduced an escalating number […]https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/05/preventing-account-takeover-on-centralized-cryptocurrency-exchanges-in-2025/Wed, 05 Feb 2025 09:00:37 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/02/05/preventing-account-takeover-on-centralized-cryptocurrency-exchanges-in-2025/This blog post highlights key points from our new white paper Preventing Account Takeovers on Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges, which documents ATO-related attack vectors and defenses tailored to CEXes. Imagine trying to log in to your centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) account and your password and username just… don’t work. You […]https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/30/pypi-now-supports-archiving-projects/Thu, 30 Jan 2025 09:00:22 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/30/pypi-now-supports-archiving-projects/PyPI now supports marking projects as archived. Project owners can now archive their project to let users know that the project is not expected to receive any more updates. Project archival is a single piece in a larger supply-chain security puzzle: by exposing archival statuses, PyPI enables downstream consumers to make more […]https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/28/best-practices-for-key-derivation/Tue, 28 Jan 2025 09:00:18 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/28/best-practices-for-key-derivation/Key derivation is essential in many cryptographic applications, including key exchange, key management, secure communications, and building robust cryptographic primitives. But it’s also easy to get wrong: although standard tools exist for different key derivation needs, our audits often uncover improper uses of these tools that could compromise key security. Flickr’s API […]https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/23/celebrating-our-2024-open-source-contributions/Thu, 23 Jan 2025 09:00:30 -0500https://miscreants.github.io/blog.trailofbits.com/2025/01/23/celebrating-our-2024-open-source-contributions/While Trail of Bits is known for developing security tools like Slither, Medusa, and Fickling, our engineering efforts extend far beyond our own projects. Throughout 2024, our team has been deeply engaged with the broader security ecosystem, tackling challenges in open-source tools and infrastructure that security engineers rely on every day. This year, our engineers […]