3 ms·

> That had originated as OpenBoot in Sun Microsystems’ SPARC-based computers, and is based on the language Forth. Macs with Open Firmware can be booted into an

by tivert 2y ago

> That had originated as OpenBoot in Sun Microsystems’ SPARC-based computers, and is based on the language Forth. Macs with Open Firmware can be booted into an interactive interface that makes it relatively straightforward to support and bring up new hardware. It’s also a security nightmare. What made it a security nightmare?

lilyball 2y ago
Physical access to the computer meant you could boot it into the OpenFirmware interface, which not just had an interactive interface but allowed for entering code (I seem to recall finding someone's Towers Of Hanoi solver written for OpenFirmware and typing that into my own machine once), so a malicious actor could use it to tamper with the boot process.
- redprince 2y ago
  > Physical access to the computer meant ... ... game over. That's one well understood fact back then as it is today. Where's the security nightmare?
  - TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
    It is a security nightmare by today’s standards, and was hard to secure back then as well. Apple devices provide a good exemplar because of their significant investments in security, but it’s not the only company making devices about which you can say physical control is no longer an absolute proxy for logical control. Take for instance an Apple silicon Mac (or for that matter an iPhone). Generally speaking you could steal it from someone but without the credentials it’s more or less a brick. Apple silicon Macs in particular have firmware that requires certain base actions to be authorized with the password of the “Owner” account, which is (typically) the first user account created on the machine. Without that, it will just stare back at you. Are there vulnerabilities that could enable a bypass? Probably. Are those in the hands of any given evil maid or thief? Exceedingly unlikely.

3 ms·

> That had originated as OpenBoot in Sun Microsystems’ SPARC-based computers, and is based on the language Forth. Macs with Open Firmware can be booted into an

by tivert 2y ago

lilyball 2y ago
Physical access to the computer meant you could boot it into the OpenFirmware interface, which not just had an interactive interface but allowed for entering code (I seem to recall finding someone's Towers Of Hanoi solver written for OpenFirmware and typing that into my own machine once), so a malicious actor could use it to tamper with the boot process.
- redprince 2y ago
  > Physical access to the computer meant ... ... game over. That's one well understood fact back then as it is today. Where's the security nightmare?
  - TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
    It is a security nightmare by today’s standards, and was hard to secure back then as well. Apple devices provide a good exemplar because of their significant investments in security, but it’s not the only company making devices about which you can say physical control is no longer an absolute proxy for logical control. Take for instance an Apple silicon Mac (or for that matter an iPhone). Generally speaking you could steal it from someone but without the credentials it’s more or less a brick. Apple silicon Macs in particular have firmware that requires certain base actions to be authorized with the password of the “Owner” account, which is (typically) the first user account created on the machine. Without that, it will just stare back at you. Are there vulnerabilities that could enable a bypass? Probably. Are those in the hands of any given evil maid or thief? Exceedingly unlikely.