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Add info about address poisoning attacks #1088
Description
There was another address poisoning attack incident over the weekend, and discussion around address UX followed. I put together a quick mock of how wallets could warn about this.
My proposed addition would either go in the address page in the glossary, or the send page. We would suggest that wallets look at their transaction/address history and try to find identical or similar addresses to what the user has entered. Based on the finding (like an address with the same start and end that only sent dust to the wallet), the UI could ask the user to double-check or use a different address.
Peter Todd stated that this should have been baked into the Bech32 address format (bc1-qep2un4-cvwmhf...), but to me it's more of a UI-level issue. We should be able to rely on wallets to do some basic checks for us and help prevent mistakes.
Activity
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 17, 2025
@GBKS assgin this issue to me
GBKS commentedon Mar 18, 2025
Done! Thanks for your interest in this issue. How familiar are you with GitHub and the contribution guidelines? Anything I can do to help you get started?
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 18, 2025
@GBKS I want to contribute to the main design. Where can I access the Figma file for this issue?
GBKS commentedon Mar 18, 2025
I put that particular visual from above in a new Figma file for you. https://www.figma.com/design/qbZF91H7fLYtrx11zy2zHC/Address-poisoning-attack?node-id=0-1&t=dVV34vBt2kZdJkNn-1
You'll have to duplicate it to edit. Giving you edit rights on this file would cost me $30 or so per month.
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 18, 2025
@GBKS Thank you so much! I am starting work on this issue from today.
GBKS commentedon Mar 18, 2025
Awesome. Just to give you a little guidance, there is not a huge amount of visual design to do here. It's all about:
It's a lot about choosing the right words.
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 18, 2025
https://www.figma.com/design/OIB6ySRustNKtaFeL5O9yB/Address-poisoning-attack?node-id=0-1&t=A8LLPHLxNYcUPW5b-1
@GBKS I have made some UI enhancements that will be useful for the user, such as changing the warning to an alert icon and adding a "Learn More" option where the user can learn about poisoning attacks and how to stay safe from them. Do you think any further changes or additions are needed? Can you guide me on this?
GBKS commentedon Mar 24, 2025
Nice work. I like the additional information. What do you think of using the toggle to let the user decide to continue with the address they entered? It does not feel super intuitive to me. What options do you think we should show?
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 25, 2025
That's a great point! The toggle might not be the most intuitive option, as it doesn't clearly communicate the risk or next steps. Instead, we could provide two clear buttons: 'Proceed Anyway' (with a confirmation prompt) and 'Choose a Different Address.' This way, users have a more deliberate choice and are fully aware of the potential risk before continuing. What do you think about this approach?
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 26, 2025
@GBKS I have made some new changes. Do they look fine, or do they need further adjustments? Your guidance would be very helpful to me. I have added some user flows to guide the user in a better way. https://www.figma.com/design/OIB6ySRustNKtaFeL5O9yB/Address-poisoning-attack?node-id=0-1&t=BGunOXdx0XPzk4Kd-1
GBKS commentedon Mar 26, 2025
Thanks for iterating. I am not sure "Choose a different address" is the best option here. Maybe:
I am not super happy with the wording of "other address". We are dealing with two addresses - the one the user entered, and the one in the users transaction history that has a similar start & end characters. What is a good name for this second one that we can use? I think this can be made more clear with some small tweaks.
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 27, 2025
Great suggestions! Moving the options into the grey box makes the connection to the warning clearer. I agree that we need a clearer term for the second address. Maybe Previously Used Address or Historical Address? This would differentiate it from the one the user is entering. Let me know what you think!
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Mar 27, 2025
I have another suggestion: What if we bring back the toggle button? When the user toggles it, a popup appears, and then the warning message is shown.I have made some changes and tried to incorporate the provided information. Your review would be very valuable to me. Thank you! https://www.figma.com/design/OIB6ySRustNKtaFeL5O9yB/Address-poisoning-attack?node-id=0-1&t=WFF4bXNtWcWemCz0-1
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Apr 12, 2025
@GBKS Just wanted to follow up I’ve updated the design. I’m looking forward to your feedback whenever you get a chance. Thanks!
GBKS commentedon Apr 23, 2025
Thanks for keeping iterating on this. After seeing your iterations, I also wanted to take a stab. It's very elaborate, but should be much clearer for users. I think it's fine to be very explicit when the users funds are at stake. What do you think of this one?
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Apr 26, 2025
@GBKS Thanks a lot! I really like this version it’s much clearer and focuses more on the user. I agree that being very clear is super important, especially when people’s money is involved. I’m going to use this layout as inspiration to improve mine too.
One thing I’d like to add is a confirmation popup after the user clicks “Continue with entered address.This would give them one last chance to double-check. Something like: “Are you sure you want to proceed?” and a warning that the address hasn’t been used before, and if it’s wrong, the money could be lost.
What do you think about adding that extra confirmation step?
here are the some changes https://www.figma.com/design/aMfLysUWs3IsKWmg1BUZrs/send-bitcoin?node-id=0-1&t=880TedrFxVLRoA5H-1
GBKS commentedon Apr 28, 2025
After inputting information, users are usually shown a review screen (see guide examples) that summarizes what they entered. How about just adding a small not there?
Let's try to wrap something up and create the pull request for the guide. I'd love to see this live. I stumbled on another report of an address poisoning attack a few days ago where someone lost a lot of money.
wareeshaali2003 commentedon Apr 29, 2025
@GBKS I’m a bit confused about which folder in the guide I should make changes to. Or should I create a separate .md file specifically for address poisoning and then create a pull request? I would really appreciate some guidance on this.
GBKS commentedon May 2, 2025
Since this is a small addition about a very specific scenario, it would be best if we could find an existing page that this logically fits into. Some related pages:
There might be other candidates. What do you think is a good place?
swedishfrenchpress commentedon May 2, 2025
Just watching up with this thread - I think creating a section for Preventing Address Poisoning Attacks under the Sending Bitcoin section would make sense.
yashrajd commentedon Jun 2, 2025
This also ties up with the test transaction section we want to add, as well as silent payments which help prevent repeated handling of addresses that in the first place!