Android WebView Vulnerability Puts Crypto Wallets at Risk of Seed Phrase Theft

A critical zero-day vulnerability in Android's WebView component has exposed millions of cryptocurrency users to potential theft of wallet recovery phrases. Dubbed "Memory-Mirror" by Ledger's security team, the flaw allows malicious background apps to extract 24-word seed phrases in as little as three seconds—without any visible signs of compromise.

The attack exploits Android's memory handling during WebView operations, bypassing app isolation safeguards. When users input new recovery phrases, attackers can silently mirror the data from the wallet app's memory cache. Ledger warns the vulnerability affects a wide range of Android devices running vulnerable WebView implementations.

Security experts urge immediate caution when entering seed phrases on Android devices. The disclosure comes as crypto wallet providers scramble to implement mitigations, highlighting the persistent security challenges in mobile cryptocurrency management.