SC Magazine Congress Chicago - BadUSB & Beyond

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BadUSB & Beyond

Threats Hiding Inside The

Enterprise

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Hello Chicago!

Adam Caudill

@adamcaudill

[email protected]

Brandon Wilson

@brandonlwilson

[email protected]

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USB Is Everywhere

• 3+ Billion Devices Sold Annually (USB-IF)

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Enter BadUSB

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What is BadUSB?

• Firmware Based Attacks

• Not a specific vulnerability

• An entire class of attacks

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Intro to Composite Devices

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Firmware as an attack vector

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Firmware: A long history of threats

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Anatomy of a thumb drive

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Updateable Firmware

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Unsigned Firmware Updates

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Signed Updates - Still Risks

• Weak signing keys

• Verification failures

• Implementation failures

• Exploitable code

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Reverse Engineering

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What can BadUSB do?

• Changes to file handling

• Anti-forensics

• Bypass security features

• New features

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Changes to file handling

• Hiding data

• Duplicating data to hidden area

• Copying deleted files to hidden area

• Altering file contents

• Inserting malware into executables

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Anti-Forensics

• Defeat write blockers

• Self destruct

• Modify files when inserted

• Modify file metadata

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Demos

• Thumbdrive Keyboard

• Hidden Data Storage

• Password Protection Bypass

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Thumbdrive Keyboard

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Hidden Data Storage

Read Request

(Get LBA

0x00000073)

Patch

(Use hidden

area?)

Section 1

(Public)

Section 2

(Hidden)

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Password Protection Bypass

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Going Beyond BadUSB…

• Beyond Thumbdrives

• Worst Case Scenario

• Where are the Manufacturers?

• How hard are BadUSB attacks?

• Real-world Impact

• BadUSB & BYOD

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Just thumbdrives?

• Billions of devices sold annually.

• How many have user updatable firmware?

• How many require signed updates?

• How many are brought from home?

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Other Devices

• Keyboards

• Mice

• USB Hubs

• Webcams

• Touchpads

• SD Card Readers

• etc…

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Worst Case Scenario

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Where are the Manufacturers?

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How hard are BadUSB attacks?

Easy.

(Assuming you have at least a decade of

experience with embedded systems that is…)

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So what's the real risk?

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BYOD & BadUSB

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Practical Defense

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Adam Caudill

@adamcaudill

Brandon Wilson

@brandonlwilson