Kraken Reveals Security Vulnerabilities in Bitcoin ATMs

The machines’ manufacturer has released patches to mend the problem, but more revisions may be needed.

By Eliza Gkritsi

Sep 30, 2021 at 6:31 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 30, 2021 at 3:34 p.m. UTC

(Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Eliza Gkritsi

Eliza Gkritsi is CoinDesk's crypto mining reporter based in Asia.

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A commonly used model of bitcoin ATMs has several software and hardware vulnerabilities, Kraken Security Labs revealed in a blog post yesterday.

The security team notified the manufacturer, General Bytes, on April 20 of the attack vectors. General Bytes has released patches for the back-end system, but some fixes may require hardware revisions, Kraken said.
Bitcoin ATMs allow users to buy bitcoin using fiat currency. General Bytes is the second-largest manufacturer of Bitcoin ATMs, representing 22.7% of the global market, according to information provider Coin ATM Radar.
The model in question, the BATMtwo (GBBATM2), had several vulnerabilities, according to Kraken, including a default administrative QR code, the underlying Android operating software, the ATM’s management system and the machine’s hardware case.

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