Critical EMFI Boot‑ROM Flaw in MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Puts Android Web3 Hot Wallets at Risk

Published: 2025-12-04 21:32:24 |

Ledger’s Donjon research team disclosed a critical physical-attack vulnerability in the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 smartphone SoC. Using open-source tools and electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI), researchers timed pulses during boot ROM execution to bypass secure boot protections, overwrite boot-ROM stack return addresses and achieve arbitrary code execution at EL3 (the processor’s highest privilege level). The exploit can be reproduced within minutes and targets Android devices used as hot (software) Web3 wallets; Ledger said its hardware wallets are not affected. The team reported the flaw to MediaTek in May and notified affected manufacturers; no public patch timeline was provided. The finding underscores that advanced mobile SoCs remain vulnerable to physical attacks and reinforces Ledger’s recommendation that private keys be stored in hardware wallets with secure elements rather than on smartphones. Primary keywords: MediaTek Dimensity 7300, electromagnetic fault injection, secure boot bypass, Ledger Donjon, hot wallet risk. Secondary/semantic keywords: boot ROM exploit, EL3 privilege escalation, mobile Web3 wallet security, secure element, hardware wallet.

Neutral

Direct market impact on cryptocurrency prices is likely limited. The vulnerability affects smartphone SoCs and targets software (hot) wallets by enabling physical extraction or compromise of private keys when an attacker has device access and specialized equipment. This raises security concerns and may increase demand for secure hardware wallets, but it does not alter fundamentals of any cryptocurrency network (no protocol exploit or token vulnerability reported). Short-term effects: modest negative sentiment among retail users reliant on mobile wallets, possible short-lived selling pressure for assets held by panic sellers, and increased searches for hardware wallets. Long-term effects: potentially positive for hardware-wallet vendors and projects emphasizing custody/security, and neutral to slightly negative for on‑device mobile wallet use. Overall, price movement for coins themselves should remain largely unaffected unless a high-profile mass compromise occurs. Therefore, classify the impact as neutral.