My Weekly RoundUp #125
Some server issues, this week! So few links, sorry!
Cybersecurity
IMP4GT: IMPersonation Attacks in 4G NeTworks
Long Term Evolution (LTE/4G) establishes mutual authentication with a provably secure Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol on layer three of the network stack. Permanent integrity protection of the control plane safeguards the traffic against manipulations. However, missing integrity protection of the user plane still allows an adversary to manipulate and redirect IP packets, as recently demonstrated.
In this work, we introduce a novel cross-layer attack that exploits the existing vulnerability on layer two and extends it with an attack mechanism on layer three. More precisely, we take advantage of the default IP stack behavior of operating systems and show that combining it with the layer-two vulnerability allows an active attacker to impersonate a user towards the network and vice versa; we name these attacks IMP4GT (IMPersonation attacks in 4G neTworks). In contrast to a simple redirection attack as demonstrated in prior work, our attack dramatically extends the possible attack scenarios and thus emphasizes the need for user-plane integrity protection in mobile communication standards. The results of our work imply that providers can no longer rely on mutual authentication for billing, access control, and legal prosecution. On the other hand, users are exposed to any incoming IP connection as an adversary can bypass the provider's firewall. To demonstrate the practical impact of our attack, we conduct two IMP4GT attack variants in a live, commercial network, which - for the first time - completely break the mutual authentication aim of LTE on the user plane in a real-world setting.
Kali Linux 2020.1 Release
The following is a brief feature summary for this release:
- Non-Root by default
- Kali single installer image
- Kali NetHunter Rootless
- Improvements to theme & kali-undercover
- New tools
Ragnarok Ransomware Targets Citrix ADC, Disables Windows Defender
A new ransomware called Ragnarok has been detected being used in targeted attacks against unpatched Citrix ADC servers vulnerable to the CVE-2019-19781 exploit.
Last week, FireEye released a report about new attacks exploiting the now patched Citrix ADC vulnerability to install the new Raganarok Ransomware on vulnerable networks.
When attackers are able to compromise a Citrix ADC device, various scripts would be downloaded and executed that scan for Windows computers vulnerable to the EternalBlue vulnerability.
If detected, the scripts would attempt to exploit the Windows devices, and if successful, inject a DLL that downloads and installs the Ragnarok ransomware onto the exploited device.
Microsoft's IE Zero-day Fix is Breaking Windows Printing
On January 17th, 2020, Microsoft disclosed a zero-day remote code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer 11, 10, and 9 that was being used in "limited targeted attacks".
To exploit this vulnerability, attackers can create a specially crafted web site that when visited in Internet Explorer will remotely execute commands on the visitor's computer without their knowledge or permission.
As no update is available yet, Microsoft released a temporary fix that involves changing the owner of the %windir%\system32\jscript.dll and denying access to the file for the Everyone group.
Unfortunately, the scope of issues being caused by applying this fix is greater than originally thought.
Since applying this fix, many users have reported that this fix is also causing printing to fail on HP printers and other USB printers.
When users attempt to print they receive I/O errors and the print jobs fail.
Technology
Neil Young says the MacBook Pro has ‘Fisher-Price’ audio quality
Musician Neil Young and tech executive Phil Baker have been trying to push the tech industry to make it easier for consumers to listen to high-quality audio for almost a decade now.
[...]
In an interview with The Vergecast, Young tells Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel that even though Grammy-winning artists are able to make music almost anywhere they go on their laptop or mobile devices, they’re still sacrificing on audio fidelity.
US court fully legalized website scraping and technically prohibited it
On September 9, the U.S. 9th circuit court of Appeals ruled (Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California) that web scraping public sites does not violate the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act).
This is a really important decision. The court not only legalized this practice, but also prohibited competitors from removing information from your site automatically if the site is public. The court confirmed the clear logic that the entry of the web scraper bot is not legally different from the entry of the browser. In both cases, the “user” requests open data — and does something with it on their side.
Privacy
Russia blocks encrypted email service ProtonMail
Russia said on Wednesday it had blocked the Swiss email service ProtonMail, popular among journalists and activists for its focus on user privacy and high level of encryption.
Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said ProtonMail, which uses end-to-end encryption to protect user data, had been used to send fake, anonymous bomb threats.
Such threats have frequently led to mass evacuations of public buildings across Russia.
Roskomnadzor said that ProtonMail had refused to provide Russian authorities with information on the owners of email accounts allegedly associated with fake bomb threats.
Science
Planned nuclear storage material could decay faster than expected
A number of countries, including the United States, have been planning for long-term storage of nuclear wastes. While many of these nations plan to keep the waste isolated from water, that's not something that can be guaranteed over the extremely long lifespans of the waste. If water reaches the radioactive isotopes, there's the chance that the isotopes could contaminate the groundwater in the area and spread well beyond the site of the storage repository.
To prevent that, plans are to have multiple layers of defense. The waste itself will be incorporated into a chemically inert, insoluble glass. And the glass itself will be placed in a stainless steel flask that will keep it from mixing with the surroundings.
Each of those materials seems to work well in tests. But now, a large team of researchers has found that, in combination, the materials aren't as robust as we'd like them to be. The problems only occur if water somehow gets into the container, but if it does, the interface between the glass and stainless steel actually accelerates chemical reactions that degrade both.
Entertainment
Jeri Ryan and Sir Patrick Stewart Discuss the Legacy of Star Trek, Spandex, and Being Memes
Nerd fame is a strange thing. The sheer passion with which people relate to you, or to something you’ve created, is a lot to handle, even for the most seasoned actor or creator. For the cast of a phenomenon like Star Trek, it must be even more overwhelming.
That intensity is part of what makes this interview, conducted by BBC Radio 1, so fun to watch. Talking to film critic Ali Plumb, Sir Patrick Stewart and Jeri Ryan, promoting Picard, have a relaxed and playful discussion about their experiences with fandom and Star Trek. Along the way, they discuss action figures, getting mistaken for other celebrities, and spandex.