this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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209
Password managers are less secure than promised (ethz.ch)
submitted 2 days ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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  • Millions of people use password managers. They make accessing online services and bank accounts easy and simplify credit card payments.
  • Many providers promise absolute security – the data is said to be so encrypted that even the providers themselves cannot access it.
  • However, researchers from ETH Zurich have shown that it is possible for hackers to view and even change passwords.
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[–] felbane@lemmy.world 90 points 2 days ago (15 children)

tl;dr:

  1. If the password manager server is hacked and compromised, then syncing your passwords with the compromised server will lead to compromised passwords (duh)
  2. None of the providers tested have (or have had in the past) compromised servers.

and an observation or two:

  • Vaultwarden is free, self-hostable, and doesn't rely on trust in a third party.
  • Keepass (and its client variants, like KeepassXC which is pretty great) is even more secure because there is no server, just an encrypted file you can store anywhere.
[–] orclev@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (7 children)

Keepass (and its client variants, like KeepassXC which is pretty great) is even more secure because there is no server, just an encrypted file you can store anywhere.

And simultaneously less secure because it's up to you to handle keeping your vault synced between various devices and most people are significantly worse at keeping systems secure than the professionals at the password managers.

Self hosting a server of some kind or using something like Keepass on a single device (with offline backups) is the most secure option, but as usual with security doing so trades significant convenience for security. For most people who are uninterested in making sure their servers are kept up to date week to week letting professionals handle it is the better option.

[–] felbane@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sure, but at the end of the day even if you don't update your vaultwarden server or you rely on an insecure storage sync system like dropbox, your actual vault is encrypted with a key that only you know. Even if your server is hacked or the kdbx is leaked, your passwords are safe until someone breaks AES.

Contrast that with hosted services, who could very easily attach their own keys to your encryption key (whether now or in the future at the behest of the state) and you'd be none the wiser. E2EE doesn't matter much when the other end is controlled by someone else.

I'm not disagreeing that most people just want something to work without thinking about, and for that reason I'm glad that services like bitwarden and lastpass and protonpass exist. My intent was not FUD, just shining a light on the fact that keeping your passwords secure does not require trusting a company.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Sure, but at the end of the day even if you don't update your vaultwarden server or you rely on an insecure storage sync system like dropbox, your actual vault is encrypted with a key that only you know. Even if your server is hacked or the kdbx is leaked, your passwords are safe until someone breaks AES.

not really the case: https://lemmy.ml/comment/24008121

Contrast that with hosted services, who could very easily attach their own keys to your encryption key

how would official Bitwarden be able to accomplish that? apart from this vulnerability, they can't use their servers to add their own keys.

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