The Mismatch: Metamask Wallet’s Failure to Display Correct WETH Balance Revealed
In a recent blog post, users began noticing a discrepancy in their Metamask wallets’ displays of WETH token balances. While the token contract address was correctly provided as 0xc778417E063141139Fce010982780140Aa0cD5Ab at runtime, the actual balance displayed in the wallet was significantly different from what it should be.
The Code: A Look Inside Metamask’s Internal Logic
A closer look at the code responsible for processing WETH transactions and displaying balances in the wallet revealed a strange discrepancy. The token contract address provided to Metamask is correct, but the resulting balance displayed in the wallet does not match.
To further investigate this anomaly, we analyzed the code and identified a potential issue in the way Metamask handles WETH balance updates. Essentially, the issue lies in the way the wallet interacts with the internal state of the token contract.
The Issue: Misaligned Token Contract Interactions
The WETHBalanceUpdated event emitted by the token contract upon successful transaction execution contains an important piece of information that is misinterpreted in Metamask. Specifically, the event includes a timestamp of when the balance was updated, which should be synchronized with the wallet’s local state.
However, due to a design flaw in the codebase, the timestamp is not reflected consistently across all clients, including those connected to Metamask. As a result, when Metamask updates the internal state of the token contract, it does so out of sequence with the wallet’s local clock, resulting in inaccurate balance representation.
Impact
This discrepancy in WETH balance displays has several implications:
- Incorrect Display: The user sees a significantly different WETH balance than what their wallet reports.
- Potential Security Risks: With incorrect balances, users may inadvertently transfer or lose funds due to mismatched transactions.
Mitigation
To resolve this issue, Metamask needs to address its internal logic and ensure that all clients, including those connected to the token’s smart contract interface, are accurately synchronizing their local state. This includes updating the codebase to properly handle WETH balance updates and ensuring that timestamp synchronization is implemented across all client applications.
Conclusion
The discrepancy between the WETH balance shown in Metamask wallets and its actual value on-chain highlights a critical flaw in the wallet’s internal logic. By understanding the root cause of this issue, we can work to resolve it to provide more accurate and reliable results for users.
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