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Researchers Run Unsigned Code on Intel ME By Exploiting USB Ports (thenextweb.com)
Slashdot user bongey writes:
A pair of security researchers in Russia are claiming to have compromised the Intel Management Engine just using one of the computer's USB ports. The researchers gained access to a fully functional JTAG connection to Intel CSME via USB DCI. The claim is different from previous USB DCI JTAG examples from earlier this year. Full JTAG access to the ME would allow making permanent hidden changes to the machine.
"Getting into and hijacking the Management Engine means you can take full control of a box," reports the Register, "underneath and out of sight of whatever OS, hypervisor or antivirus is installed."
They add that "This powerful God-mode technology is barely documented," while The Next Web points out that USB ports are "a common attack vector."
"Getting into and hijacking the Management Engine means you can take full control of a box," reports the Register, "underneath and out of sight of whatever OS, hypervisor or antivirus is installed."
They add that "This powerful God-mode technology is barely documented," while The Next Web points out that USB ports are "a common attack vector."
Moderation is censorship and needs to be abolished. Undoubtedly, your first reaction is to censor this position to -1. Keep in mind that doing so only supports this position that moderation is a tool for censoring posts that moderators disagree with. It promotes groupthink because moderation is primarily used as a tool to vote on agreement or disagreement with a post. Therefore, it reduces the visibility of posts voicing contrary opinions, discouraging discussion and supporting an echo chamber. Moderation has become very harmful to Slashdot and needs to be removed.
By definition, moderation is the suppression of material that is deemed inappropriate. Moderation more than satisfies this definition, therefore it is a form of censorship.
The most common counterargument is that the posts are still visible under some settings, therefore it is not censorship. However, moderation limits the number of people who are posts when they are voted down, suppressing them though not altogether eliminating the posts. Consider that there are restrictions on adult material, including where and when it can be sold or shown, and who is allowed to be present to access or view it. Although it is still possible to access and view adult material, those efforts constitute censorship. It isn't controversial to say that adult material being restricted is a form of censorship. Effectively the same thing is happening with moderation on Slashdot. Moderation is a form of censorship.
Another common argument is that moderation is not censorship because it's not imposed by the government. However, if businesses or individuals block access to content for others, they are indeed practicing censorship. If your ISP voluntarily blocks access to some content, they are practicing censorship. It is not controversial to call label that as censorship. In the case of moderation, individuals are suppressing content, and that is censorship.
Make no mistake, moderation is a form of censorship. The common counterarguments have been thoroughly refuted. The negative effects can be seen throughout Slashdot, which has become an echo chamber where any opposing views are frequently reduced to a score of -1. This stifles the discussions that once made Slashdot so lively and interesting. Moderation is censorship, and it is ruining Slashdot.
A couple of days ago, a story ran discussing many massive vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel USB drivers. Users laughed it off, saying that if someone has physical access, the computer is already compromised. When USB is then used to exploit a vulnerable IME, it's considered a serious issue. Why is it that Linux gets a free pass when other systems do not?
Maybe they should make a new hacker movie called "owned in 60 seconds".
Not to mention that breaking or disabling the ME causes a system reset after 30 minutes. Why isn't this mandatory backdoor the biggest news item in the modern corporation-critical age of journalism?
If they can get a JTAG connection to it directly, does this mean we could also just fry the thing to neutralize it without harming the rest of the computer then?
I here it runs a version of MINUX 3. Can we hack in and install the more nomenclaturely correct Windows ME?
So all this is really saying is physical access is god mode. You don't need an ME for that to be true.
Run whatever host OS then run a VM in it of a LIVE DVD of Linux (Tails 1.4.1, Knoppix, etc) from a microSD card in a USB adapter. With Knoppix use the TORAM boot flag when you load it up so it all goes into RAM. Voila. When do you ever need to reboot? You can store all your data on an encrypted volume/partition wherever you want. (Use SAMBA whatever.. a million ways) Save persistent settings if you want. LOL
Intel is hax. Google is hax. Microsoft is too weak to be hax it's spyware. Facebook is Jewish social hax.
Wake up people you are all being ruined.
What I hate about all these stories? We have security researchers who decry the evil of Intel ME. How it can be used to fully control a system. How it allows remote access. You know, those are GOOD things. The only bad parts are (1) it's closed source, (2) it has security vulnerabilities, and (3) the owner (whether it's a corporation or a single person) doesn't have control over it. What I want to see is not the Intel ME disabled. I want to see it turned into a bare bones OS precisely for the average user to remotely log in, flash a new BIOS (or recover from a brick), and to maximize control over things like power settings, usb access, etc.
There's nothing wrong with a God mode. They key is making sure the right person is God.
I've found a photo of this pair of "security researchers" in Russia:
https://pre00.deviantart.net/f...
You are welcome on my lawn.
I once worked on a military base. My commander could see a bad solution and told us 'I decided to put that can of worms back on the shelf'. Intel. Put the can back on the shelf. Disable the ME. Bad idea on day one. More bad day after day. You need no more than a standard BIOS to boot. The rest, as you can see just causes problems.
This Management Engine stuff just gets scarier and scarier. Just like intentional backdoors in encryption WILL be found and exploited, these undocumented "systems" within our systems will be cracked and the result can and will be DEVASTATING. It is hard enough to keep operating systems updated and secure. Firmware-level security is not something that can be easily maintained on running machines, even if Intel and friends can put out patches fast enough. I want my machine to be MINE.
These "infected" machines are making their way into our entire infrastructure- controlling everything from power generation, traffic, government operations, military, healthcare, just about everything. Imagine black-hatters, rogue nations, criminals, or terrorists simply bypassing all normal security and just taking control of the hardware and doing whatever they want.
WE ALL NEED THE ABILITY TO ABSOLUTELY DISABLE ME AT THE BIOS AND/OR HARDWARE LEVEL. And we need it NOW!
Oh, and AMD is doing the same thing as Intel, so don't look to them as some alternative.
Funny how you find that scary, and not the fact that someone has physical access to your computers.
This could potentially give people full access to the Intel Insider core which is what all the 4K DRM relies on.
I hope after IME is fully pwn3d that people will start taking a crack at AMD's PSP because I would like to have a fully open system but I refuse to financially support Intel due to their highly unethical and anti-competitive behavior.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Even if the USB ports are epoxied, one can open up the box and still access the USB bus quite easily.
how many times are you going to run this story? i think i've counted 5 so far.
And now you know what SGX is about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Guard_Extensions
You're still forgetting the "remote" part. There's nothing remote about saying physical access means root. And if someone has physical access there's a whole bunch of ways that don't require an ME to execute.
...because any admin worth their salt knows that if someone has physical access to the device, it's as good as compromised, period.
... for a botnet.
Maybe they should make a movie, "Why Intel went bankrupt."
How can you deliver Intel (and AMD) computers to customers knowing that there is secret control by unknown agencies? Do you tell the customers? If you don't tell the customers, can you be taken to court and sued for damages?
Does anyone think that secret government agencies are well-managed? No one at a secret agency would ever steal?
Could the problem be solved by isolating Intel computers from the Internet, providing internet access from other computers, and providing some secure method of data transfer?
This Ask Slashdot story didn't get sufficient attention, in my opinion: Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Isolate a Network And Allow Data Transfer?
The problem of hidden access is not just with Intel and AMD. Microsoft does it: Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made Quote: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC.
Epoxy is easily removed using a Dremel tool.
Mod parent up!
This is not an exploitable bug, it is an NSA feature.
I knew there was a good reason to keep this VIA C3 Mini-ITX motherboard around!
#DeleteFacebook
First task should be to get the fully unencryped Minix ME OS so we can figure out how to neuter and replace it with something safe, that users can control or just turn off permanently.
Hell, wouldn't it be juicy if private keys or something were extracted, so the ME system could just be broken permanently for all machines, so the current range of chipsets could be easily made user-trusted with a simple app run once per PC?
Wait, so when I buy an Intel processor, *I* am the customer now? The processor does stuff against my wishes for others benefit???
WTF. Intel really dropped the ball. You can see why they're selling only 15% of the processors now, with ARM taking most of the market from them right under their nose.
What you're describing is software freedom. And you deserve software freedom for all of the computers you own. You should be allowed to run, inspect, share, and modify the BIOS, "Management Engine" (or workalike), and all of the other software on the computer including any encryption keys used. Fortunately for all of us people are working on different architectures and on freeing common architectures, so I hope you'll help them.
Digital Citizen
It is unlikely that Americans fully understand what an internet without censorship and mass surveillance is really like, to the point that I much of what Americans have to say on the subject is empty rhetoric.
Nerd: *tapa tapa tapa* Oh my god! The Intel Managament Engine... it's gone rogue! It's out of control!
Man With Shades And Many Chevrons: Shut it down!
Nerd: *tapa tapa tapa* I'm trying! But it's not responding to the shutdown code!
Man With Shades And Many Chevrons: Just pull the plug or something!
Nerd: It already has control over our systems! We'll need to do a manual override!
Man With Shades And Many Chevrons: Dammit! Where's Bruce Willis when you need him?!
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Electronic voting is still better than paper.
After all, someone could bring in a million boxes of ballots.
These attacks on evoting machines have never been proven in the real world.
It helps to protect Intel's valuable intellectual property called ME from people like us. Don't listen to this barefoot Hippie Stallman from the FSF, he just wants the unwashed masses to have actual control over the machines they payed for.
I have no idea how powerful that engine is.
I hope someone will come out with some neat idea to usefully exploit that ME in favour of the users.
Maybe some femto-kernel or the likes...
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
See subject: It was a pleasure shooting down your obvious self-upmodded by sockpuppet post pure bs here https://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11338175&cid=55527999/
* We don't know what ports Intel ME/AMT uses? Bullshit - it's easy to trigger yourself (& has blank logon - what everyone's worried about regarding it) to see EXACTLY what ports it uses yourself, easily.
(Clue - don't EVER "take potshots" @ ME, ever again...)
APK
P.S.=> I see you're "@ it again" spouting 'put them in doubt bs' (which ANY FOOL, especially like yourself doing it YET AGAIN, lol, can do) with "miraculous circumstances" pretty much - well, the DAY YOU DO A BETTER SOLUTION vs. ANYTHING than I have in the link above? Is the day YOU actually accomplished something of worth you bogus bullshit artist do-nothing... apk
See subject: It was a pleasure shooting down your obvious self-upmodded by sockpuppet post pure bs here https://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11338175&cid=55527999/
* We don't know what ports Intel ME/AMT uses? Bullshit - it's easy to trigger yourself (& has blank logon - what everyone's worried about regarding it) to see EXACTLY what ports it uses yourself, easily.
(Clue - don't EVER "take potshots" @ ME, ever again...)
LASTLY: DAYS LATER I SEE YOU DOWNMOD "HID" (or tried to, I won't ALLOW it fool) LAST TIME I POSTED THIS TOO https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11345669&cid=55535545/ - you are a sockpuppeting loser, no questions asked now!
APK
P.S.=> I see you're "@ it again" spouting 'put them in doubt bs' (which ANY FOOL, especially like yourself doing it YET AGAIN, lol, can do) with "miraculous circumstances" pretty much - well, the DAY YOU DO A BETTER SOLUTION vs. ANYTHING than I have in the link above? Is the day YOU actually accomplished something of worth you bogus bullshit artist do-nothing... apk