Cryptocurrency wallet extension on Chrome, specifically MetaMask, is rapidly consuming users' SSD storage - official confirmation reveals a bug that's writing hundreds of gigabytes of data per day onto solid-state drives.
MetaMask, a popular "all-in-one" wallet for managing various cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and connecting to decentralised applications (dApps), has been found to have a bug that causes excessive data writing on users' solid-state drives (SSDs). This issue, which has been acknowledged by both MetaMask developer Mark "Gudahtt" Stacey and the company that owns MetaMask, Consensys, has the potential to cause significant SSD wear, data loss, or reduced lifespan.
The bug, which primarily affects users with unusually large state data in their MetaMask wallets, has been writing large amounts of data (hundreds of gigabytes per day) onto users' SSDs since at least May. The reported amount of data written to one affected SSD was a staggering 26517 GB.
The problem was first reported by a user named "ripper31337" on GitHub, claiming that MetaMask wrote 25 Terabytes in just three months. Another user reported that the bug writes 5 MB/s of data nonstop in the background, potentially causing SSD wear even when users are logged out of the extension.
Consensys has confirmed the existence of this bug and is addressing it by working on a fix that reduces disk usage, particularly when the extension is closed. They have already rolled out a fix that significantly cuts disk activity in the background, and they continue to explore ways to optimize disk writes while the extension is open.
Regarding strategies for reducing state size and thus disk writes, Consensys is considering reducing the size of each stored record and lowering the frequency of data writes to the disk. This approach aims to limit the volume and rate of data being written by the extension, which currently can be as high as 500 GB daily, posing a risk to SSD longevity.
While no specific release date for the full fix has been announced yet, the company is prioritising this issue due to its impact on users. Backblaze reported in 2022 that SSDs in data centres had become more reliable than HDDs, but unnecessarily writing terabytes worth of data over a few months on SSDs is not wise, even with their increased reliability.
It's important for MetaMask users to monitor their SSD health and consider taking proactive measures to protect their data, such as regularly backing up their wallets and keeping an eye on disk usage. Consensys encourages users to update their MetaMask extensions regularly to ensure they have the latest fixes and optimisations.
In summary, MetaMask's bug causes excessive disk writes of up to 500 GB per day on Chromium-based browsers, threatening SSD health. A fix has been deployed to significantly reduce disk writes when the extension is closed, and Consensys is actively working on further optimizations, including minimizing record sizes and write frequency to reduce state size and disk wear in future updates. The company is prioritising this issue due to its impact on users and encourages regular updates to ensure the latest fixes and optimisations are in place.
Technology and data-and-cloud-computing are integral to the ongoing issue with MetaMask, a popular wallet for managing cryptocurrencies and connecting to decentralised applications (dApps). The recently discovered bug, primarily affecting users with large MetaMask wallets, has been causing excessive data writing onto users' solid-state drives (SSDs), potentially leading to data loss, reduced lifespan, or increased wear on the SSDs.
