Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop Insufficient Memory Protection

2019.10.13
Credit: Matthias Deeg
Risk: Medium
Local: No
Remote: Yes
CVE: N/A
CWE: N/A

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Advisory ID: SYSS-2019-033 Product: Designer Bluetooth Desktop Manufacturer: Microsoft Affected Version(s): n/a Tested Version(s): n/a Vulnerability Type: Insufficient Protection of Code (Firmware) and Data (Cryptographic Key) Risk Level: Medium Solution Status: Open Manufacturer Notification: 2019-07-31 Solution Date: - Public Disclosure: 2019-10-10 CVE Reference: Not assigned yet Author of Advisory: Matthias Deeg (SySS GmbH) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overview: Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop is a Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) wireless desktop set consisting of a keyboard and a mouse. The manufacturer describes the product as follows (see [1]): "With its ultra-thin and modern look, the Designer Bluetooth Desktop complements the look of your desk. It wirelessly pairs to your laptop or tablet with the latest Bluetooth Smart technology - instantly connecting without wires or dongles to manage. A full-sized keyboard with built-in number pad and mouse will keep you productive at your desk." Due to the insufficient protection of the flash memory of the keyboard, an attacker with physical access has read and write access to the firmware and the used cryptographic key. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vulnerability Details: SySS GmbH found out that the embedded flash memory of the Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop keyboard can be read and written via the SWD (Serial Wire Debug) interface of the used nRF51822 Bluetooth SoC [2] as the flash memory is not protected by the offered readback protection feature. Thus, an attacker with physical access to the keyboard can simply read and write the nRF51822 flash memory contents and either extract the cryptographic key (Bluetooth LE Long Term Key), for instance, to perform further attacks against the wireless communication, or modify the firmware. However, even if the readback protection of the nRF51822 was enabled, an attacker would be able to read and write the flash memory contents by bypassing the security feature as described in [3] and [4] with slightly more effort. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proof of Concept (PoC): SySS GmbH could successfully read the nRF51822 flash memory contents of the Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop keyboard via the SWD interface using a SEGGER J-Link PRO [5] debug probe in combination with SEGGER J-Link Commander and extract the currently used cryptographic key (Long Term Key). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solution: According to Microsoft, the reported security issue does not meet the bar for servicing via a security update [6]. The described security issue may be fixed in future versions of the product. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclosure Timeline: 2019-07-31: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer 2019-08-01: Microsoft confirms receipt of security advisory 2019-08-06: Microsoft responds that the reported issue does not meet the bar for servicing via a security update 2019-10-10: Public release of SySS security advisory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ References: [1] Product website for Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboards/designer-bluetooth-desktop/7n9-00001 [2] nRF51822 Product Specification v3.1 https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nRF51822_PS_v3.1.pdf [3] Kris Brosch, Include Security, Firmware dumping technique for an ARM Cortex-M0 SoC, 2015 https://blog.includesecurity.com/2015/11/NordicSemi-ARM-SoC-Firmware-dumping-technique.html [4] Andrew Tierney, Pen Test Partners, NRF51822 code readout protection bypass - a how-to, 2018 https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/nrf51822-code-readout-protection-bypass-a-how-to/ [5] Product website for Segger J-Link PRO https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/models/j-link-pro/ [6] Microsoft Vulnerability Severity Classification for Windows https://aka.ms/windowsbugbar [7] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2019-033 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2019-033.txt [8] SySS GmbH, SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy https://www.syss.de/en/news/responsible-disclosure-policy/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Credits: This security vulnerability was found by Matthias Deeg of SySS GmbH. E-Mail: matthias.deeg (at) syss.de Public Key: https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Matthias_Deeg.asc Key fingerprint = D1F0 A035 F06C E675 CDB9 0514 D9A4 BF6A 34AD 4DAB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer: The information provided in this security advisory is provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. Details of this security advisory may be updated in order to provide as accurate information as possible. The latest version of this security advisory is available on the SySS Web site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright: Creative Commons - Attribution (by) - Version 3.0 URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCgAdFiEE0fCgNfBs5nXNuQUU2aS/ajStTasFAl2dwGkACgkQ2aS/ajSt TauFEw//cp6r+DslX+0o0fpOkvebbW4MIMSiAXBBOr/ooqxIAOF3I9Bf7XBiOVSY zvskCeQEEsywrGuLi1UbkJIQWb5SC2a/ZpTMgdeUeXulBin4izaUgbFbjmOcLIug L+u2bPxsijLjMuS3OIws4GVevT2A8Hf3X7n3+GCiC18RklbxBwzPG4Qw1dQaxZMq VMdtTyjpBicDERDykfT+mAzC2HHwewObZlNNdXKQXQ34IM51nKODbF2V7VCBf71H Vrx8g6XDS1VMi4UXEkffpvYUB1u2/y27GUKndYoBcm//A+vdlsjtXlyLd9AXPqpe 0ONTiFkyXmFSE7y5ZZVtrW8J7Oy7N3Yeh5UpHPnF39I05MuFzwy3fSRG7+mTEiJi N3NRcH7zw2wtUoQzSbZnx/7j/Lp96J3p+kRSE8s4yPu4s2+prkODKgutlT2VuriI FoIEtCTfzBzdWFySm6q4UunoA794YgjJRq0GxeDjk2/1nL2erLbY8EdLqPoZ0udZ vJlzjV8fFSyeMzRdkHXaKbDpMYRStwtWLwzbLZBowMi1QMz5lgFhWFFV6s/CxNer TgoD3ohB/lp1HK+8GlJUIclAQGpsGx6m3znOtjsPtKkzhh76vJndnguRRE/VPXMX IB2+SPmLmUCQrmu1UdDIq32hFNHIU90SKl8G1dv/1Uhj8gUKX9I= =izWu -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


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