security: decrypt and sign dApp approvals in the popup (closes #157)

The dApp transaction and signature approval paths sent the user's plaintext
password to the background over runtime.sendMessage and decrypted there. Both
now decrypt in the popup, where the password is typed, and put only the signed
artifact on the wire: the raw signed transaction, or the signature. Neither the
password, the recovery phrase, the xprv nor the private key crosses the
messaging boundary any more. This matches what the popup-side eth_sendTransaction
path in confirmTx.js already did.

The popup runs the same sequence ethers' own sendTransaction() runs internally
(populateTransaction, then signTransaction), so nonce, gas, fee and chain id
population are unchanged. The background keeps broadcast and approval
resolution, and when the popup cannot produce an artifact it reports the error
over the same message so the requesting page still gets a failure rather than
hanging.

Moving the secret out of the background must not turn the background into a
blind relay, so it re-derives the signer from the artifact and checks it
against the approval it is holding before acting: shared/approvalVerify.js
asserts that a raw transaction is the approved transaction signed by the
approved address, and that a signature covers the approved payload and recovers
to the approved address.

A wrong password is now caught in the popup before anything is sent, so it
fails with an inline full-sentence error and leaves the pending approval alive
to retry; previously it reached the background and destroyed the approval.
Rejection still resolves with EIP-1193 code 4001, and approvals still survive
popup close and reopen.

Removes the four standing TODO(security) markers, now that the flaw is gone.

src/background/index.js

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 const { DEFAULT_RPC_URL } = require("../shared/constants");
 const { SUPPORTED_CHAIN_IDS, networkByChainId } = require("../shared/networks");
 const { onChainSwitch } = require("../shared/chainSwitch");
-const { getBytes } = require("ethers");
 const {
     state,
     loadState,
@@ -14,8 +13,7 @@ const {
 } = require("../shared/state");
 const { refreshBalances, getProvider } = require("../shared/balances");
 const { debugFetch } = require("../shared/log");
-const { decryptWithPassword } = require("../shared/vault");
-const { getSignerForAddress } = require("../shared/wallet");
+const { verifySignedTx, verifySignature } = require("../shared/approvalVerify");
 const {
     isPhishingDomain,
     updatePhishingList,
@@ -725,39 +723,28 @@ runtime.onMessage.addListener((msg, sender, sendResponse) => {
             return true;
         }
 
+        // The popup signs; it reports back here when it could not. Fail the
+        // request the same way this handler used to when it did the signing.
+        if (msg.error) {
+            approval.resolve({ error: { message: msg.error } });
+            sendResponse({ error: msg.error });
+            return false;
+        }
+
         (async () => {
             try {
                 await loadState();
                 const activeAddress = await getActiveAddress();
-                let wallet, addrIndex;
-                for (const w of state.wallets) {
-                    for (let i = 0; i < w.addresses.length; i++) {
-                        if (w.addresses[i].address === activeAddress) {
-                            wallet = w;
-                            addrIndex = i;
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
-                    if (wallet) break;
-                }
-                if (!wallet) throw new Error("Wallet not found");
-                // TODO(security): Move decryption to popup to avoid sending password via runtime.sendMessage
-                let decrypted = await decryptWithPassword(
-                    wallet.encryptedSecret,
-                    msg.password,
+                // The popup holds the secret, but the background stays the
+                // authority on what is broadcast: the raw transaction must be
+                // the approved one, signed by the approved address.
+                verifySignedTx(
+                    msg.rawSignedTx,
+                    approval.txParams,
+                    activeAddress,
                 );
-                const signer = getSignerForAddress(
-                    wallet,
-                    addrIndex,
-                    decrypted,
-                );
-                // Best-effort: clear decrypted secret after use.
-                // Note: JS strings are immutable; this nulls the reference but
-                // the original string may persist in memory until GC.
-                decrypted = null;
                 const provider = getProvider(state.rpcUrl);
-                const connected = signer.connect(provider);
-                const tx = await connected.sendTransaction(approval.txParams);
+                const tx = await provider.broadcastTransaction(msg.rawSignedTx);
                 approval.resolve({ txHash: tx.hash });
                 sendResponse({ txHash: tx.hash });
             } catch (e) {
@@ -784,55 +771,23 @@ runtime.onMessage.addListener((msg, sender, sendResponse) => {
             return true;
         }
 
+        // The popup signs; it reports back here when it could not. Fail the
+        // request the same way this handler used to when it did the signing.
+        if (msg.error) {
+            approval.resolve({ error: { message: msg.error } });
+            sendResponse({ error: msg.error });
+            return false;
+        }
+
         (async () => {
             try {
-                await loadState();
                 const activeAddress = await getActiveAddress();
-                let wallet, addrIndex;
-                for (const w of state.wallets) {
-                    for (let i = 0; i < w.addresses.length; i++) {
-                        if (w.addresses[i].address === activeAddress) {
-                            wallet = w;
-                            addrIndex = i;
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
-                    if (wallet) break;
-                }
-                if (!wallet) throw new Error("Wallet not found");
-                // TODO(security): Move decryption to popup to avoid sending password via runtime.sendMessage
-                let decrypted = await decryptWithPassword(
-                    wallet.encryptedSecret,
-                    msg.password,
-                );
-                const signer = getSignerForAddress(
-                    wallet,
-                    addrIndex,
-                    decrypted,
-                );
-                // Best-effort: clear decrypted secret after use.
-                // Note: JS strings are immutable; this nulls the reference but
-                // the original string may persist in memory until GC.
-                decrypted = null;
-
-                const sp = approval.signParams;
-                let signature;
-
-                if (sp.method === "personal_sign" || sp.method === "eth_sign") {
-                    signature = await signer.signMessage(getBytes(sp.message));
-                } else {
-                    // eth_signTypedData_v4 / eth_signTypedData
-                    const typedData = JSON.parse(sp.typedData);
-                    const { domain, types, message } = typedData;
-                    // ethers handles EIP712Domain internally
-                    delete types.EIP712Domain;
-                    signature = await signer.signTypedData(
-                        domain,
-                        types,
-                        message,
-                    );
-                }
-
+                // The popup holds the secret, but the background stays the
+                // authority on what is handed back to the page: the signature
+                // must cover the approved payload and recover to the approved
+                // address.
+                const signature = msg.signature;
+                verifySignature(approval.signParams, signature, activeAddress);
                 approval.resolve({ signature });
                 sendResponse({ signature });
             } catch (e) {

src/popup/views/approval.js

@@ -9,10 +9,19 @@ const {
     attachCopyHandlers,
 } = require("./helpers");
 const { state, saveState, currentNetwork } = require("../../shared/state");
-const { formatEther, formatUnits, Interface, toUtf8String } = require("ethers");
+const {
+    formatEther,
+    formatUnits,
+    getBytes,
+    Interface,
+    toUtf8String,
+} = require("ethers");
 const { getPrice, formatUsd } = require("../../shared/prices");
 const { ERC20_ABI } = require("../../shared/constants");
 const { TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS } = require("../../shared/tokenList");
+const { decryptWithPassword } = require("../../shared/vault");
+const { getSignerForAddress } = require("../../shared/wallet");
+const { getProvider } = require("../../shared/balances");
 const txStatus = require("./txStatus");
 const uniswap = require("../../shared/uniswap");
 const runtime =
@@ -153,6 +162,8 @@ function showTxApproval(details) {
         details.isPhishingDomain,
     );
 
+    pendingTxParams = details.txParams;
+
     const toAddr = details.txParams.to;
     const token = toAddr ? TOKEN_BY_ADDRESS.get(toAddr.toLowerCase()) : null;
     const ethValue = formatEther(details.txParams.value || "0");
@@ -326,6 +337,7 @@ function showSignApproval(details) {
     );
 
     const sp = details.signParams;
+    pendingSignParams = sp;
 
     $("approve-sign-hostname").textContent = details.hostname;
     $("approve-sign-from").innerHTML = approvalAddressHtml(sp.from);
@@ -401,6 +413,36 @@ function show(id) {
 
 let approvalId = null;
 let pendingTxDetails = null;
+// The exact parameters shown to the user, kept so the popup signs what it
+// displayed rather than re-fetching anything at approval time. Both are
+// repopulated by show() when the popup is closed and reopened.
+let pendingTxParams = null;
+let pendingSignParams = null;
+
+// Approve buttons stay disabled and muted while the popup derives the key and
+// signs, which is slow enough (Argon2id) that a double click is likely.
+function setTxButtonBusy(busy) {
+    $("btn-approve-tx").disabled = busy;
+    $("btn-approve-tx").classList.toggle("text-muted", busy);
+}
+
+function setSignButtonBusy(busy) {
+    $("btn-approve-sign").disabled = busy;
+    $("btn-approve-sign").classList.toggle("text-muted", busy);
+}
+
+// Locate the wallet and the address index owning the currently active
+// address. Returns null when no wallet holds it.
+function findActiveWallet() {
+    for (const wallet of state.wallets) {
+        for (let i = 0; i < wallet.addresses.length; i++) {
+            if (wallet.addresses[i].address === state.activeAddress) {
+                return { wallet, addrIndex: i };
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return null;
+}
 
 function init(ctx) {
     $("approve-remember").addEventListener("change", async () => {
@@ -430,34 +472,86 @@ function init(ctx) {
         window.close();
     });
 
-    $("btn-approve-tx").addEventListener("click", () => {
-        const password = $("approve-tx-password").value;
+    $("btn-approve-tx").addEventListener("click", async () => {
+        let password = $("approve-tx-password").value;
         if (!password) {
             showError("approve-tx-error", "Please enter your password.");
             return;
         }
         hideError("approve-tx-error");
-        $("btn-approve-tx").disabled = true;
-        $("btn-approve-tx").classList.add("text-muted");
+        setTxButtonBusy(true);
 
-        runtime.sendMessage(
-            {
-                type: "AUTISTMASK_TX_RESPONSE",
-                id: approvalId,
-                approved: true,
-                // TODO(security): Move decryption to popup to avoid sending password via runtime.sendMessage
-                password: password,
-            },
-            (response) => {
-                if (response && response.txHash) {
-                    txStatus.showWait(pendingTxDetails, response.txHash);
-                } else {
-                    const msg =
-                        (response && response.error) || "Transaction failed.";
-                    txStatus.showError(pendingTxDetails, null, msg);
-                }
-            },
-        );
+        const active = findActiveWallet();
+        if (!active) {
+            password = null;
+            showError(
+                "approve-tx-error",
+                "No wallet was found for the active address.",
+            );
+            setTxButtonBusy(false);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Decrypt here, in the popup. The password must never cross the
+        // extension messaging boundary; only the signed transaction does.
+        let decryptedSecret;
+        try {
+            decryptedSecret = await decryptWithPassword(
+                active.wallet.encryptedSecret,
+                password,
+            );
+        } catch {
+            showError(
+                "approve-tx-error",
+                "That password is incorrect. Please try again.",
+            );
+            setTxButtonBusy(false);
+            return;
+        } finally {
+            // Best-effort: drop the password as soon as the key derivation
+            // is done. Note that JS strings are immutable; this clears the
+            // reference but the original string may persist until GC.
+            password = null;
+        }
+
+        const payload = {
+            type: "AUTISTMASK_TX_RESPONSE",
+            id: approvalId,
+            approved: true,
+        };
+        try {
+            const signer = getSignerForAddress(
+                active.wallet,
+                active.addrIndex,
+                decryptedSecret,
+            );
+            const provider = getProvider(state.rpcUrl);
+            const connected = signer.connect(provider);
+            // This is the sequence ethers' own sendTransaction() runs
+            // internally, so nonce, gas, fee and chain id population are
+            // identical to when the background did the signing.
+            const populated =
+                await connected.populateTransaction(pendingTxParams);
+            delete populated.from;
+            payload.rawSignedTx = await connected.signTransaction(populated);
+        } catch (e) {
+            payload.error =
+                e.shortMessage || e.message || "Transaction signing failed.";
+        } finally {
+            // Best-effort: clear the decrypted secret after use, with the
+            // same immutability caveat as the password above.
+            decryptedSecret = null;
+        }
+
+        runtime.sendMessage(payload, (response) => {
+            if (response && response.txHash) {
+                txStatus.showWait(pendingTxDetails, response.txHash);
+            } else {
+                const msg =
+                    (response && response.error) || "Transaction failed.";
+                txStatus.showError(pendingTxDetails, null, msg);
+            }
+        });
     });
 
     $("btn-reject-tx").addEventListener("click", () => {
@@ -469,36 +563,93 @@ function init(ctx) {
         window.close();
     });
 
-    $("btn-approve-sign").addEventListener("click", () => {
-        const password = $("approve-sign-password").value;
+    $("btn-approve-sign").addEventListener("click", async () => {
+        let password = $("approve-sign-password").value;
         if (!password) {
             showError("approve-sign-error", "Please enter your password.");
             return;
         }
         hideError("approve-sign-error");
-        $("btn-approve-sign").disabled = true;
-        $("btn-approve-sign").classList.add("text-muted");
+        setSignButtonBusy(true);
 
-        runtime.sendMessage(
-            {
-                type: "AUTISTMASK_SIGN_RESPONSE",
-                id: approvalId,
-                approved: true,
-                // TODO(security): Move decryption to popup to avoid sending password via runtime.sendMessage
-                password: password,
-            },
-            (response) => {
-                if (response && response.signature) {
-                    window.close();
-                } else {
-                    const msg =
-                        (response && response.error) || "Signing failed.";
-                    showError("approve-sign-error", msg);
-                    $("btn-approve-sign").disabled = false;
-                    $("btn-approve-sign").classList.remove("text-muted");
-                }
-            },
-        );
+        const active = findActiveWallet();
+        if (!active) {
+            password = null;
+            showError(
+                "approve-sign-error",
+                "No wallet was found for the active address.",
+            );
+            setSignButtonBusy(false);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Decrypt here, in the popup. The password must never cross the
+        // extension messaging boundary; only the signature does.
+        let decryptedSecret;
+        try {
+            decryptedSecret = await decryptWithPassword(
+                active.wallet.encryptedSecret,
+                password,
+            );
+        } catch {
+            showError(
+                "approve-sign-error",
+                "That password is incorrect. Please try again.",
+            );
+            setSignButtonBusy(false);
+            return;
+        } finally {
+            // Best-effort: drop the password as soon as the key derivation
+            // is done. Note that JS strings are immutable; this clears the
+            // reference but the original string may persist until GC.
+            password = null;
+        }
+
+        const payload = {
+            type: "AUTISTMASK_SIGN_RESPONSE",
+            id: approvalId,
+            approved: true,
+        };
+        try {
+            const signer = getSignerForAddress(
+                active.wallet,
+                active.addrIndex,
+                decryptedSecret,
+            );
+            const sp = pendingSignParams;
+            if (sp.method === "personal_sign" || sp.method === "eth_sign") {
+                payload.signature = await signer.signMessage(
+                    getBytes(sp.message),
+                );
+            } else {
+                // eth_signTypedData_v4 / eth_signTypedData
+                const typedData = JSON.parse(sp.typedData);
+                const { domain, types, message } = typedData;
+                // ethers handles EIP712Domain internally
+                delete types.EIP712Domain;
+                payload.signature = await signer.signTypedData(
+                    domain,
+                    types,
+                    message,
+                );
+            }
+        } catch (e) {
+            payload.error = e.shortMessage || e.message || "Signing failed.";
+        } finally {
+            // Best-effort: clear the decrypted secret after use, with the
+            // same immutability caveat as the password above.
+            decryptedSecret = null;
+        }
+
+        runtime.sendMessage(payload, (response) => {
+            if (response && response.signature) {
+                window.close();
+            } else {
+                const msg = (response && response.error) || "Signing failed.";
+                showError("approve-sign-error", msg);
+                setSignButtonBusy(false);
+            }
+        });
     });
 
     $("btn-reject-sign").addEventListener("click", () => {

src/shared/approvalVerify.js

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+// Verification of the signed artifacts produced by the approval popup.
+//
+// Signing happens in the popup, where the password is entered; the background
+// only broadcasts the raw transaction and resolves the pending approval back
+// to the requesting page. So that moving the signing out of the background
+// does not turn the background into a blind relay, the background re-derives
+// the signer from the artifact and checks it against the approval it is
+// holding before acting on it. All recovery is delegated to ethers.
+//
+// Every failure message is a full sentence, because these strings are shown to
+// the user and returned to the dApp.
+
+const {
+    Transaction,
+    getAddress,
+    getBytes,
+    verifyMessage,
+    verifyTypedData,
+} = require("ethers");
+
+// Case-insensitive address comparison that tolerates absent values on either
+// side. Two absent addresses compare equal (contract creation has no `to`).
+function sameAddress(a, b) {
+    const aMissing = a === null || a === undefined || a === "";
+    const bMissing = b === null || b === undefined || b === "";
+    if (aMissing || bMissing) return aMissing && bMissing;
+    try {
+        return getAddress(a) === getAddress(b);
+    } catch {
+        return String(a).toLowerCase() === String(b).toLowerCase();
+    }
+}
+
+// Normalize a transaction value (hex string, decimal string, number or
+// bigint) to a bigint. An absent value is zero, matching ethers.
+function normalizeValue(v) {
+    if (v === null || v === undefined || v === "") return 0n;
+    return BigInt(v);
+}
+
+// Normalize call data to a lowercase hex string. Absent data is "0x".
+function normalizeData(v) {
+    if (v === null || v === undefined || v === "" || v === "0x") return "0x";
+    return String(v).toLowerCase();
+}
+
+// Assert that a raw signed transaction is the transaction the user approved,
+// signed by the address the approval was raised for. Returns the parsed
+// ethers Transaction on success, throws otherwise.
+function verifySignedTx(rawSignedTx, txParams, expectedFrom) {
+    if (typeof rawSignedTx !== "string" || !rawSignedTx.startsWith("0x")) {
+        throw new Error("The signed transaction is missing or malformed.");
+    }
+
+    let parsed;
+    try {
+        parsed = Transaction.from(rawSignedTx);
+    } catch {
+        throw new Error("The signed transaction could not be decoded.");
+    }
+
+    if (!parsed.from) {
+        throw new Error("The signed transaction carries no valid signature.");
+    }
+    if (!sameAddress(parsed.from, expectedFrom)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "The signed transaction was signed by a different address than the one that was approved.",
+        );
+    }
+    if (!sameAddress(parsed.to, txParams.to)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "The signed transaction does not go to the approved recipient.",
+        );
+    }
+    if (normalizeValue(parsed.value) !== normalizeValue(txParams.value)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "The signed transaction does not carry the approved value.",
+        );
+    }
+    if (normalizeData(parsed.data) !== normalizeData(txParams.data)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "The signed transaction does not carry the approved call data.",
+        );
+    }
+
+    return parsed;
+}
+
+// Assert that a signature over the approved message or typed data was
+// produced by the address the approval was raised for. Returns the recovered
+// address on success, throws otherwise.
+function verifySignature(signParams, signature, expectedFrom) {
+    if (typeof signature !== "string" || !signature.startsWith("0x")) {
+        throw new Error("The signature is missing or malformed.");
+    }
+
+    let recovered;
+    try {
+        if (
+            signParams.method === "personal_sign" ||
+            signParams.method === "eth_sign"
+        ) {
+            recovered = verifyMessage(getBytes(signParams.message), signature);
+        } else {
+            const typedData = JSON.parse(signParams.typedData);
+            const { domain, types, message } = typedData;
+            // ethers derives EIP712Domain itself and rejects it as an input.
+            delete types.EIP712Domain;
+            recovered = verifyTypedData(domain, types, message, signature);
+        }
+    } catch {
+        throw new Error("The signature could not be verified.");
+    }
+
+    if (!sameAddress(recovered, expectedFrom)) {
+        throw new Error(
+            "The signature was produced by a different address than the one that was approved.",
+        );
+    }
+
+    return recovered;
+}
+
+module.exports = { verifySignedTx, verifySignature, sameAddress };