Advisory ID: SYSS-2022-008 Product: Store 'n' Go Secure Portable HDD Manufacturer: Verbatim Affected Version(s): GD25LK01-3637-C VER4.0 Tested Version(s): GD25LK01-3637-C VER4.0 Vulnerability Type: Expected Behavior Violation (CWE-440) Risk Level: Low Solution Status: Open Manufacturer Notification: 2022-01-31 Solution Date: - Public Disclosure: 2022-06-08 CVE Reference: CVE-2022-28386 Author of Advisory: Matthias Deeg (SySS GmbH) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overview: The Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable HDD is a portable USB drive with AES 256-bit hardware encryption and a built-in keypad for passcode entry. The manufacturer describes the product as follows: "The AES 256-bit Hardware Encryption seamlessly encrypts all data on the drive in real-time with a built-in keypad for password input. The SSD does not store passwords in the computer or system's volatile memory making it far more secure than software encryption. Also, if it falls into the wrong hands, the SSD will lock and require re-formatting after 20 failed password attempts."[1] The security feature for locking and requiring to reformat the SSD after 20 failed unlock attempts does not work as specified. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vulnerability Details: When analyzing the external SSD Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable HDD, Matthias Deeg found out that the device will not lock and require reformatting after 20 failed passcode attempts, as described in the product description[1] and the corresponding user manual[2]. Thus, an attacker with physical access to such an external SSD can try more passcodes in order to unlock the device. During the security analysis, SySS could not find out how many failed passcode attempts would actually lock the device and require reformatting it, as this device state was never reached. Additionally, trying to find out the correct passcode by either manually or automatically entering them via the provided keypad is rather insufficient compared to an equally possible offline brute-force attack described in SySS security advisory SYSS-2022-005[3]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proof of Concept (PoC): SySS tried to unlock the Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable HDD with more than 20 consecutively entered wrong passcodes. Afterwards, contrary to the product description, the external SSD could still be successfully unlocked with the correct passcode, and access to the previously stored data was possible without any issues. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solution: SySS GmbH is not aware of a solution for the described security issue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclosure Timeline: 2022-01-31: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer 2022-02-11: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer again 2022-03-07: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer again 2022-06-08: Public release of security advisory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ References: [1] Product website for Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable HDD https://www.verbatim-europe.co.uk/en/prod/store-n-go-portable-ssd-with-keypad-access-256gb-53402/ [2] Verbatim Keypad Secure User Manual https://www.verbatim-marcom.com/image_Verbatim-53402_Verbatim-Keypad-Secure-User-Manual-English_422400.pdf [3] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2022-005 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2022-005.txt [4] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2022-008 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2022-008.txt [5] SySS GmbH, SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy https://www.syss.de/en/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 website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright: Creative Commons - Attribution (by) - Version 3.0 URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en