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Encrypted Blackphone Patches Serious Modem Flaw (threatpost.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the now-more-secure dept.

msm1267 writes: Silent Circle, makers of the security and privacy focused Blackphone, have patched a vulnerability that could allow a malicious mobile application or remote attacker to access the device's modem and perform any number of actions. Researchers at SentinelOne discovered an open socket on the Blackphone that an attacker could abuse to intercept calls, set call forwarding, read SMS messages, mute the phone and more. Blackphone is marketed toward privacy-conscious users; it includes encrypted messaging apps such as SilentText and Silent Phone, and it runs on a customized, secure version of Android, called PrivatOS.

4 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. Baseband processors are the problem by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Baseband processors (aka modems) have been the greatest technical weakness in cellphones since the dawn of SIM cards. They operate independently of the primary CPU and still crash when fuzzed and yet still have DMA lines to your RAM. Perhaps the bigger problem is how absurdly complex the ever growing number of protocol standards there are for baseband processors.

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  2. Neo900 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Neo900.org phone deliberately uses a CPU that does not have a modem built into it. The modem is a separate chip, and there is a watchdog chip that instantly resets it if it tries to do anything when supposed to be off.

    1. Re: Neo900 phone by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Reportedly they've gotten PayPal to cripple that project.

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      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Neo900 phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      From their FAQ:
      http://neo900.org/faq

      Isn't a non-free baseband firmware a privacy issue?

      We're going to address privacy concerns of non-free modem firmware by ensuring that the modem has access to no more data than absolutely necessary, so it won't be able to spy on anything that's not already available on carrier side. On Neo900 one can be sure that the modem is actually turned off when requested, not just pretending to be. Users will be notified in case of the modem wanting to do something without their consent.

      Unlike some other smartphones do, Neo900 won't share system RAM with the modem and system CPU will always have full control over the microphone signal sent to the modem. You can think of it as a USB dongle connected to the PC, with you in full control over the drivers, with a virtual LED to show any modem activity