Researcher to demonstrate attack code for Intel chips [All OS's vulnerable]

InfoWorld ^ | Jul 16th 2008 at 3:06PM | By Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service

[CarrotAndStick]

Security researcher and author Kris Kaspersky plans to demonstrate how an attacker can target flaws in Intel's microprocessors to remotely attack a computer using JavaScript or TCP/IP packets, regardless of what operating system the computer is running.

Kaspersky will demonstrate how such an attack can be made in a presentation at the upcoming Hack In The Box (HITB) Security Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during October. The proof-of-concept attacks will show how processor bugs, called errata, can be exploited using certain instruction sequences and a knowledge of how Java compilers work, allowing an attacker to take control of the compiler.

"I'm going to show real working code...and make it publicly available," Kaspersky said, adding that CPU bugs are a growing threat and malware is being written that targets these vulnerabilities.

Different bugs will allow hackers to do different things on the attacked computers. "Some bugs just crash the system, some allow a hacker to gain full control on the kernel level. Some just help to attack Vista, disabling security protections," he said.

The demonstrated attack will be made against fully patched computers running a range of operating systems, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Linux and BSD, Kaspersky said, adding that the demonstration of an attack against a Mac is also a possibility.

Processors contain hundreds of millions of transistors and errata in these chips are relatively common. While some errata can affect a chip's ability to function properly -- such as the errata that last year forced Advanced Micro Devices to push back volume shipments of its quad-core Opteron processors -- many others exist unnoticed by users.

For example, the Silverthorne version of Intel's Atom processor, which lies at the heart of the Centrino Atom chip platform, contains 35 errata, according to a June specification update released by Intel.

"It's possible to fix most of the bugs, and Intel provides workarounds to the major BIOS vendors," Kaspersky said, referring to the code that controls the most basic functions of a PC. "However, not every vendor uses it and some bugs have no workarounds."

 

[CarrotAndStick]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/researcher-claims-to-have-discovered-universal-attack-code-for-i/

 

Researcher claims to have discovered universal attack code for Intel chips: No one is safe

Also, he says he found Intel's diary and is totally telling everybody about that one thing. But seriously, we think Kris Kaspersky is being a bit of a tease here. He claims to have found a flaw in Intel's processors that would allow a hacker to bust up on a computer using JavaScript or TCP/IP, with no regard for what operating system the computer is running... only he won't say what it is. He's planning on unveiling the attack at the Hack In The Box conference in Malaysia this October, where he says he'll show working code that can take control of computers, all of which he plans to release publicly. The attack takes advantage of known errata in chips, which most vendors have a workaround for in BIOS, but not all. XP, Vista, Linux, BSD and Mac operating systems are all vulnerable, so we all get to run around panicking until October -- unless somebody figures it out first.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

Ping!

[rahbert]

“we think Kris Kaspersky is being a bit of a tease here”

He’s trying to inflate sales of his Antivirus product?

[paulcissa]

Sadly, these guys are a necessary evil in our business. If not for them and other white hats, we'd get code worse than what we have - which is pretty loose IMO.

Parasites as they may be, at least they keep the developers feet close to the fire.

[CarrotAndStick]

Not the same Kaspersky.

As per Wiki:

Kaspersky Lab is a computer security company, co-founded by Natalia Kaspersky and Eugene Kaspersky in 1997, offering antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, and anti-intrusion products.

Kaspersky Lab is a privately held company headquartered in Moscow, Russia with regional offices in Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, Romania, Japan, China, Korea and the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky

[null and void]

This is why I don’t normally use my Wintel box to cruise the net.

Who tries to take over an old PowerPC box?

[Paleo Conservative]

Well the Mac biggots wou’t have an opportunity to smirk now that Macintosh has been ported to Intel.

[Abathar]

I bet the Chinese are going to be buying him dinner and trying to get him drunk now too...

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Way to h4x0r the G1bs0n.

As for this, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Taking over an operating system by using ‘Javascript or TCP/IP’ sounds like something that some IRC kiddie would dream up.

[LuxMaker]

This brings new meaning to Intel’s mantra “Intel inside”.

[GOP Poet]

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