---
title: "MPC Vault System Security Audit Report"
sidebarTitle: "Executive Summary"
description: "Comprehensive security audit findings and recommendations for the MPC vault system"
icon: "clipboard-check"
---

<Warning>
  This audit report contains critical security findings that require immediate
  attention before production deployment.
</Warning>

**Date:** August 5, 2025  
**Auditor:** Claude (Senior Security Auditor)  
**Scope:** Comprehensive security assessment of the MPC vault system for wallet operations  
**Version:** Sonr v0.10.15

## Executive Summary

This security audit evaluates the Multi-Party Computation (MPC) vault system implemented in Sonr's blockchain platform. The audit covers the current architecture, recent security improvements, wallet operation security, threat analysis, and production readiness assessment.

### Key Findings Overview

- **Critical Issues:** 3 identified
- **High Risk Issues:** 4 identified
- **Medium Risk Issues:** 6 identified
- **Low Risk Issues:** 8 identified

<Info>
  **Overall Security Posture:** MODERATE RISK - Suitable for testnet deployment
  with immediate remediation of critical issues required before mainnet
  deployment with user funds.
</Info>

## 1. Current Architecture Analysis

### 1.1 System Components

The vault system consists of four primary components:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Vault Client (internal/vault/vault.go)" icon="code">
    **Purpose:** High-level interface for vault operations using WebAssembly enclaves
    
    **Security Features:**
    - Input validation framework with regex patterns
    - Secure error handling with sanitized messages
    - WASM plugin integrity verification via SHA256 hashing
    - Restricted host and filesystem access for WASM plugins
  </Accordion>

<Accordion title="WASM Plugin (cmd/vault/main.go)" icon="cube">
  **Purpose:** WebAssembly-based secure execution environment for MPC operations
  **Security Features:** - Sandboxed execution environment - Rate limiting (60
  operations/minute per vault) - Resource constraints (max 100 vaults per
  instance) - Ownership-based access control - Configurable IPFS endpoints and
  timeouts
</Accordion>

<Accordion
  title="DWN Keeper Integration (x/dwn/keeper/keeper.go)"
  icon="database"
>
  **Purpose:** Blockchain state management and vault lifecycle operations
  **Security Features:** - Vault state persistence with enclave data separation
  - Integration with DID-based authentication - Service registration
  verification
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="MPC Enclave (crypto/mpc/enclave.go)" icon="lock">
    **Purpose:** Multi-party computation cryptographic operations
    
    **Security Features:**
    - AES-GCM encryption for data at rest
    - ECDSA signing with SHA3-256 hashing
    - Key derivation and rotation capabilities
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 2. Security Fixes Analysis

### 2.1 Recently Implemented Security Improvements

Based on code analysis and git history, the following security enhancements have been implemented:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="WASM Sandbox Restrictions" icon="check-circle" color="#16a34a">
    ✅ **EFFECTIVE**
    
    - Restricted allowed hosts to local IPFS endpoints only
    - Limited file system access to `/tmp/vault-wasm` directory
    - Well-implemented defense against WASM plugin abuse
  </Card>

<Card title="Input Validation Framework" icon="check-circle" color="#16a34a">
  ✅ **EFFECTIVE** - Vault ID validation with alphanumeric constraints - CID
  validation with Base58 format checking - Password validation with UTF-8 and
  size constraints - Comprehensive validation prevents injection attacks
</Card>

<Card title="Error Message Sanitization" icon="check-circle" color="#16a34a">
  ✅ **EFFECTIVE** - SecureError type with public/internal error separation -
  Structured error codes prevent information leakage - Prevents sensitive
  information disclosure
</Card>

<Card
  title="Rate Limiting and Resource Constraints"
  icon="check-circle"
  color="#16a34a"
>
  ✅ **EFFECTIVE** - 60 ops/minute per vault, max 100 vaults per instance -
  Protection against resource exhaustion attacks - Well-implemented DoS
  protection
</Card>

<Card
  title="Plugin Integrity Verification"
  icon="exclamation-triangle"
  color="#f59e0b"
>
  ⚠️ **PARTIALLY EFFECTIVE** - Optional SHA256 hash verification - Defaults to
  empty hash (backward compatibility) - Good foundation but needs enforcement in
  production
</Card>

  <Card title="Access Control Implementation" icon="exclamation-triangle" color="#f59e0b">
    ⚠️ **NEEDS IMPROVEMENT**
    
    - Owner-based access with pseudo-authentication
    - Uses vault ID as owner ID (placeholder implementation)
    - Insufficient for production use
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## 3. Wallet Operation Security Assessment

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Vault Generation and Key Derivation" defaultOpen>
    - **Strength:** Uses secure MPC protocol for key generation
    - **Weakness:** No entropy source verification
    - **Risk Level:** Medium
    - **CVSS Score:** 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N)
  </Accordion>

<Accordion title="Transaction Signing (Cosmos, EVM)">
  - **Strength:** Proper ECDSA implementation with SHA3-256 - **Weakness:**
  Missing signature malleability protection - **Risk Level:** Medium - **CVSS
  Score:** 4.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N)
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Message Signing and Verification">
  - **Strength:** Standard ECDSA verification process - **Weakness:** No
  timestamp validation for replay protection - **Risk Level:** Medium - **CVSS
  Score:** 5.4 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N)
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Key Rotation and Vault Management">
  - **Strength:** MPC refresh protocol for key rotation - **Weakness:** No
  automated rotation enforcement - **Risk Level:** Low - **CVSS Score:** 3.7
  (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="IPFS Storage and Retrieval">
    - **Strength:** AES-GCM encryption for data at rest
    - **Weakness:** No integrity verification after retrieval
    - **Risk Level:** High
    - **CVSS Score:** 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 4. Threat Analysis by Risk Level

### 4.1 CRITICAL Vulnerabilities (Immediate Action Required)

<Warning>
  These vulnerabilities require immediate remediation before any production
  deployment.
</Warning>

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="CRITICAL-001: Weak Authentication System" icon="shield-x">
    - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:647-676`
    - **Issue:** Pseudo-authentication using vault ID as owner ID
    - **Impact:** Complete vault takeover by any user knowing vault ID
    - **CVSS Score:** 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    - **Remediation:** Implement proper JWT/OAuth2 authentication with cryptographic proofs
  </Accordion>

<Accordion
  title="CRITICAL-002: Missing WASM Integrity Enforcement"
  icon="shield-x"
>
  - **Location:** `internal/vault/vault.go:138` - **Issue:** WASM hash
  verification disabled by default (empty ExpectedSHA256) - **Impact:**
  Malicious WASM plugin execution - **CVSS Score:** 9.1
  (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N) - **Remediation:** Enforce mandatory
  WASM integrity checks in production
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="CRITICAL-003: Hardcoded Default Passwords" icon="shield-x">
    - **Location:** `x/dwn/keeper/keeper.go:404`
    - **Issue:** Default password generation based on predictable values
    - **Impact:** Vault encryption key compromise
    - **CVSS Score:** 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    - **Remediation:** Implement secure password derivation or user-provided passwords
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### 4.2 HIGH Risk Vulnerabilities

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="HIGH-001: No Encrypted Data Integrity Verification" icon="alert-triangle">
    - **Location:** `crypto/mpc/enclave.go:51-68`
    - **Issue:** No HMAC or authenticated encryption verification after IPFS retrieval
    - **Impact:** Data tampering attacks on stored vault data
    - **CVSS Score:** 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)
  </Accordion>

<Accordion
  title="HIGH-002: Missing Signature Malleability Protection"
  icon="alert-triangle"
>
  - **Location:** `crypto/mpc/enclave.go:111-121` - **Issue:** ECDSA signatures
  vulnerable to malleability attacks - **Impact:** Transaction replay with
  modified signatures - **CVSS Score:** 7.4
  (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N)
</Accordion>

<Accordion
  title="HIGH-003: Insufficient Input Sanitization for IPFS Operations"
  icon="alert-triangle"
>
  - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:321-392` - **Issue:** Direct CID usage
  without additional validation - **Impact:** IPFS injection attacks or resource
  exhaustion - **CVSS Score:** 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="HIGH-004: Race Conditions in Concurrent Vault Access" icon="alert-triangle">
    - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:505-568`
    - **Issue:** Inadequate synchronization for concurrent vault operations
    - **Impact:** Data corruption or inconsistent vault state
    - **CVSS Score:** 6.8 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### 4.3 MEDIUM Risk Vulnerabilities

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="MEDIUM-001: Weak Key Derivation for Encryption">
    - **Location:** `crypto/mpc/enclave.go:78`
    - **CVSS Score:** 5.9 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N)
  </Accordion>

<Accordion title="MEDIUM-002: Missing Request Replay Protection">
  - **Location:** Various signing functions - **CVSS Score:** 5.4
  (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N)
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="MEDIUM-003: Insufficient Error Context in Logs">
  - **Location:** Throughout codebase - **CVSS Score:** 4.3
  (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L)
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="MEDIUM-004: No Key Rotation Enforcement">
  - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:986-988` - **CVSS Score:** 4.2
  (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N)
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="MEDIUM-005: WebAuthn Implementation Placeholder">
  - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:947-954` - **CVSS Score:** 5.8
  (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N)
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="MEDIUM-006: Insufficient Resource Cleanup">
    - **Location:** `cmd/vault/main.go:976-983`
    - **CVSS Score:** 4.9 (AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### 4.4 LOW Risk Issues

<Accordion title="Low Risk Issues Summary">
  - LOW-001: Predictable Enclave ID Generation - LOW-002: Missing Rate Limit
  Bypass Protection - LOW-003: Insufficient Logging for Security Events -
  LOW-004: No Vault Backup/Recovery Mechanism - LOW-005: Missing Health Check
  Attestation Validation - LOW-006: Hardcoded Configuration Values - LOW-007: No
  Circuit Breaker for IPFS Operations - LOW-008: Missing Input Length Validation
  Edge Cases
</Accordion>

## 5. Production Readiness Assessment

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Testnet Deployment" icon="exclamation-triangle" color="#f59e0b">
    ⚠️ **CONDITIONAL APPROVAL**
    
    Suitable with immediate critical fixes:
    - Fix CRITICAL-001 (Authentication)
    - Fix CRITICAL-002 (WASM Integrity)
    - Fix CRITICAL-003 (Default Passwords)
    
    **Timeline:** 2-3 weeks with dedicated security effort
  </Card>

<Card title="Mainnet with User Funds" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
  ❌ **NOT RECOMMENDED** Requires comprehensive security hardening: - All
  CRITICAL and HIGH issues resolved - External security audit by certified firm
  - Bug bounty program - Comprehensive monitoring and alerting **Timeline:** 3-4
  months minimum
</Card>

  <Card title="Enterprise/Institutional Use" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
    ❌ **NOT RECOMMENDED**
    
    Requires enterprise-grade security controls:
    - SOC 2 Type II compliance
    - Multi-signature authorization workflows
    - Hardware Security Module (HSM) integration
    - Advanced threat detection and response
    
    **Timeline:** 6-8 months minimum
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## 6. Remediation Recommendations

### 6.1 Immediate Actions (0-2 weeks)

<Steps>
  <Step title="Implement Proper Authentication System">
    - Replace pseudo-authentication with JWT/OAuth2
    - Add cryptographic proof of vault ownership
    - Implement session management with timeout
  </Step>

<Step title="Enforce WASM Integrity Verification">
  - Remove backward compatibility for empty hashes - Implement automatic hash
  verification - Add WASM signature verification
</Step>

  <Step title="Replace Hardcoded Password Generation">
    - Implement secure key derivation functions (PBKDF2/Argon2)
    - Add user-provided password support
    - Implement password strength requirements
  </Step>
</Steps>

### 6.2 Short-term Actions (2-8 weeks)

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add Data Integrity Verification">
    - Implement HMAC for IPFS stored data
    - Add checksum verification after retrieval
    - Implement authenticated encryption (AES-GCM with additional data)
  </Step>

<Step title="Implement Signature Malleability Protection">
  - Use deterministic ECDSA (RFC 6979) - Add signature canonicalization -
  Implement proper nonce generation
</Step>

  <Step title="Enhance WebAuthn Integration">
    - Complete WebAuthn assertion verification
    - Add biometric authentication support
    - Implement proper challenge-response flow
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 7. Implementation Timeline

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Phase 1: Critical Security Fixes (2-3 weeks)" defaultOpen>
    - Authentication system implementation
    - WASM integrity enforcement
    - Password security enhancement
    - Basic monitoring setup
  </Accordion>

<Accordion title="Phase 2: High-Risk Remediation (4-6 weeks)">
  - Data integrity verification - Signature security improvements - Input
  validation enhancements - Concurrent access protection
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Phase 3: Production Hardening (8-12 weeks)">
  - Comprehensive monitoring implementation - Advanced security controls -
  Performance optimization - External security audit preparation
</Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Phase 4: Enterprise Readiness (6-8 months)">
    - Compliance framework implementation
    - Advanced threat protection
    - HSM integration
    - Comprehensive testing and validation
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## 8. Compliance and Standards Assessment

### 8.1 Current Compliance Status

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="OWASP Top 10" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
    ❌ Multiple violations identified
  </Card>
  <Card title="NIST Cybersecurity Framework" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
    ❌ Partial implementation
  </Card>
  <Card title="ISO 27001" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
    ❌ Insufficient security controls
  </Card>
  <Card title="SOC 2" icon="x-circle" color="#dc2626">
    ❌ Not compliant
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

### 8.2 Recommended Standards Implementation

1. Implement OWASP secure coding practices
2. Adopt NIST cybersecurity framework controls
3. Prepare for SOC 2 Type II audit
4. Consider ISO 27001 certification for enterprise use

## 9. Conclusion

The Sonr MPC vault system demonstrates good architectural principles and has implemented several important security improvements. However, critical vulnerabilities prevent immediate production deployment with user funds.

<Note>
  The system is suitable for testnet deployment with immediate remediation of
  the three critical issues identified. A comprehensive security hardening
  effort over 3-4 months is required before mainnet deployment with user funds
  is recommended.
</Note>

<Warning>
  **Immediate Priority:** Address the three critical vulnerabilities before any
  production deployment.
</Warning>

**Recommendation:** Engage a certified security firm for external audit before mainnet launch.

---

**Report Prepared By:** Claude (Senior Security Auditor)  
**Date:** August 5, 2025  
**Classification:** Confidential - Internal Use Only

