USB Autorun Attacks Against Linux

Orome1 writes "Many people think that Linux is immune to the type of Autorun attacks that have plagued Windows systems with malware over the years. However, there have been many advances in the usability of Linux as a desktop OS — including the addition of features that can allow Autorun attacks. This Shmoocon presentation by Jon Larimer from IBM X-Force starts off with a definition of autorun vulnerabilities and some examples from Windows, then jumps straight into the Linux side of things. Larimer explains how attackers can abuse these features to gain access to a live system by using a USB flash drive. He also shows how USB as an exploitation platform can allow for easy bypass of protection mechanisms like ASLR and how these attacks can provide a level of access that other physical attack methods do not." I've attached the video if you are curious. Skip the first 2 minutes if you don't care where the lost and found is.

Comments

Stop copying Windows please!

[JustNiz]

Autorun as a concept just sucks.
Copying whatever Windows does, warts and all, into Linux, just sucks.
When is this insanity going to end?

Re:Stop copying Windows please!

[hedwards]

It really depends how you do it. It's one thing to go the UAC route and have the computer notify the user that something has been inserted and request authorization to do something, and quite another to make that decision for the user. Certain actions really shouldn't be allowed to be completed completely on their own, autorun is definitely a candidate for that.

Re:Stop copying Windows please!

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Exactly.

87.3% of all the biggest forehead-whapping Windows security bugs have come from Microsoft's (really Bill Gates) love of whizzo features that look really cool in a developers conference keynote but don't survive the first three minutes of critical thought or exposure to the real world.

I'm specifically referring to things like where IE or Windows Explorer execute code of unknown provenance to provide "previews". Windows Explorer once had a bug which could execute arbitrary code via JPEG preview. Of course, the Outlook preview exploits are LEGION, but we can also include VB macros included in Word and Excel "data" (hahaha) files. Only a sick love of flashy features, consequences be damned can account for this.