Electrum released version 4.8.2: fixed critical backup issues for the Lightning wallet and enhanced security

Electrum has released version 4.8.2, which includes multiple security fixes and enhances the security of the Bitcoin wallet codebase. The related fixes are based on reports from researchers such as Bitcoin Red Team, Calle, l0rinc, haoxucu, and m0wer.

This version addresses a critical backup issue affecting some Lightning wallets that use non-deterministic keys and anchored channels. Previously, the channel backups and full wallet backups of affected wallets may have lacked the keys necessary to transfer funds on-chain after a remote force close request; affected users will receive a warning when starting Electrum and should export a new backup, as the old backup cannot correctly restore funds in this scenario.

This version also strengthens Lightning HTLC verification, rejects previously acceptable format errors in xpub/xprv keys, expands the scope of codebase security enhancements, and prevents the Android QR code scanner from reading screenshots. This is the third security-focused version release of Electrum since July, following versions 4.8.0 and 4.8.1.