MetaMask Bug Causes SSDs to Degrade 500GB Daily

MetaMask, a widely used browser wallet extension, has been identified with a critical vulnerability that is causing solid-state drives (SSDs) to degrade rapidly. The bug results in the MetaMask extension continuously writing data to the SSDs at an alarming rate of approximately 5MB/s, even when the wallet is logged out. This abnormal write pattern translates to approximately 500GB per day and an astonishing 25TB within just three months.

This issue was first noticed by users who observed an unusually rapid decline in the service life of their SSDs. One user reported that their SSD's life had been halved due to MetaMask's continuous operation. Another user confirmed that the extension had written more than 100GB in a single day, which stopped only after deactivating MetaMask. The bug runs in the background and does not depend on user actions, affecting users with a lot of state data or many transactions. The infected files are stored in the Local Extension Settings folder, causing significant wear and tear on the drive and appearing as normal disk activity to most systems.

The problem was first reported on GitHub and has since garnered widespread attention due to the accumulation of user complaints. The flaw has been observed across various platforms, including Chrome, Edge, and Opera. Users have reported that the standard SSD wear, which typically takes years, is being reduced to mere months with the use of MetaMask. ConsenSys, a member of the MetaMask developer team, acknowledged the issue and assured users that a fix is imminent. The development team is addressing both the size of the state and the amount of background data pushes and fetches to streamline the performance of the extensions and maintain the health of the drive.

The issue with MetaMask has been present since at least May, with users reporting high disk usage months before it was addressed by developers. The company now promises that its solution will not only minimize the number of data writes but also the number of data retrievals, addressing the core of the SSD issues. Users are advised to disable or uninstall the MetaMask extension on affected browsers until the update is more widely available. This incident highlights the broader issue of quality assurance in decentralized app extensions and the need for sound software testing and frequent updates within the crypto ecosystem.