Zero Knowledge (About) Encryption: A Comparative Security Analysis of Three Cloud-based Password Managers

Zero Knowledge Encryption is a term widely used by vendors of cloud-based password managers. Although it has no strict technical meaning, the term conveys the idea that the server, who stores encrypted password vaults on behalf of users, is unable to learn anything about the contents of those vaults. The security claims made by vendors imply that this should hold even if the server is fully malicious. This threat model is justified in practice by the high sensitivity of vault data, which makes password manager servers an attractive target for breaches (as evidenced by a history of attacks). We examine the extent to which security against a fully malicious server holds true for three leading vendors who make the Zero Knowledge Encryption claim: Bitwarden, LastPass and Dashlane. Collectively, they have more than 60 million users and 23% market share. We present 12 distinct attacks against Bitwarden, 7 against LastPass and 6 against Dashlane. The attacks range in severity, from integrity violations of targeted user vaults to the complete compromise of all the vaults associated with an organisation. The majority of the attacks allow recovery of passwords. We have disclosed our findings to the vendors and remediation is underway. Our attacks showcase the importance of considering the malicious server threat model for cloud-based password managers. Despite vendors’ attempts to achieve security in this setting, we uncover several common design anti-patterns and cryptographic misconceptions that resulted in vulnerabilities. We discuss possible mitigations and also reflect more broadly on what can be learned from our analysis by developers of end-to-end encrypted systems.

Password managers less secure than promised

Researchers from ETH Zurich have discovered serious security vulnerabilities in three popular, cloud-based password managers. During testing, they were able to view and even make changes to stored passwords. 

Passwortmanager bieten weniger Schutz als versprochen

Forschende der ETH Zürich haben bei drei populären, cloudbasierten Passwortmanagern gravierende Sicherheitslücken entdeckt. In Tests konnten sie gespeicherte Passwörter einsehen und sogar verändern. 

Passwortmanager bieten weniger Schutz als versprochen

Forschende der ETH Zürich haben bei drei populären, cloudbasierten Passwortmanagern gravierende Sicherheitslücken entdeckt. In Tests konnten sie gespeicherte Passwörter einsehen und sogar verändern. 

Praktikant:in für die Gruppe Rara und Karten (m/w/d)

Lukas Ziegler (@lukas_m_ziegler) on X

Autonomous excavator building a wall! 🪨 This will blow your mind! 🤯 Researchers from ETH Zürich have used an autonomous excavator to build a 65-meter-long, six-meter-high dry-stone wall. The autonomous system, called "Heap," precisely firstly scanned and then placed stones,

Blatten als Weckruf: Reto Knutti über die Gefahren des Klimawandels | NANO Science Date

Das, was in der Vergangenheit sicher war, ist vielleicht morgen nicht mehr sicher, so Reto Knutti. Das Bergdorf Blatten ist der traurige Beweis. Ingolf Baur hat den Klimaforscher getroffen.