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How to turn a phone into a covert bugging device? Infect the printer
- jrochkind1 13y agoHow do you execute code on a printer by printing a document? The OP, in a link that seems intended to be more info on this, is to a CVE about an open port 9100 on printers allowing unsigned firmware updates. That seems to be a different thing?
- zimbatm 13y agoSimple. Printers support PostScript which is an executable file format. And for some reasons some vendors like HP though it to be a good idea to add an instruction that allows to update the firmware.
- RBerenguel 13y agoAn instruction through PostScript? Keep in mind PostScript is interpreted, so adding an instruction to the interpreter to update the firmware is... Really stupid on their side
- sliverstorm 13y agoOn the other hand, also super nifty. You or I could probably figure out how to update a printer with snmp, but any idiot can update their printer if they just have to print this or that page.
- RBerenguel 13y agoPrinting a direct PS file is not straightforward in most (Windows, Mac) operating systems, since they convert it to PDF (Mac) or wonder what the hell it is (Win, at least last time I tried). But agree, nifty... And dangerous!
- pdkl95 13y agoWhile it's not exactly a "bug", this hack has always been a favorite of mine: http://eclipsed.net/~gr/April1.txt http://eclipsed.net/~gr/April1.txt It is the wonderful tale of printing a "document" to all the printers on campus, that rewrites /show (and leaves it rewritten in the dictionary), so various fun words (such as: Congress, war, chemical, pants, graduate) end up black-box-redacted.
- bcohen5055 13y agoIsn't the printer vulnerability completely separate from the phone firmware hack? Theoretically there are a number of different attack vectors that could enable someone to update the firmware on the phone
- sliverstorm 13y agoYou would seem to be correct, the printer vulnerability isn't the story behind the researcher's attack. But on the other hand, it is. Yes, a particular model of phone has a vulnerability to local network devices. But which is more interesting and important, knowing the Avaya 9608 is vulnerable, or talking about how devices we normally think of as totally passive (non-actors if you will) are actually attack vectors? In other words, the researcher details a vulnerability. That's the news out of the researcher. But to me, I'm reading an article about unusual attack vectors, because that's the most interesting part to me.
- aaronblohowiak 13y agoLike in DS9 when the evil genius hid the subspace link in the waste management system, because nobody would search such an "unimportant" system.