Daily Edition · Page 6

THE DAILY INDEX

Technology, AI, software, security, crypto and business

GENERAL

TLDR InfoSec

BLASTING PAST WEBP

The NSO Group's BLASTPASS exploit targets iPhones via iMessage through a WebP vulnerability. The attack involves sending a PKPass file with a WebP image that caused a buffer overflow, overwriting a pointer, and executing malicious code via heap manipulation that bypasses iOS protections like ASLR and PAC. Unlike earlier exploits that need complex "weird machines," BLASTPASS uses conventional techniques such as callback-oriented programming and a multi-stage approach, with follow-up iMessages delivering final payload encryption keys.

FUN WITH TIMING ATTACKS

Timing attacks can exploit non-constant-time string comparison functions like `startsWith` to determine secrets character by character. Attackers can deduce when a guess's prefix matches part of the secret by measuring execution times over many trials, allowing them to crack an 8-character password in just thousands of attempts rather than billions. This can be demonstrated with a browser-based implementation using Thompson Sampling and a statistical approach. Developers should avoid direct secret comparisons and instead use proper cryptographic hashing with rate limiting.

MICROSOFT WOULDN'T LOOK AT A BUG REPORT WITHOUT A VIDEO

Security researcher Will Dorman attempted to report a vulnerability to the Microsoft Security Response Center by providing a report with a clear description of the bug and supporting screenshots. However, Microsoft responded that it could not review the report until a video was submitted. This was unnecessary and time-wasting, as it would provide no additional details and would just show the commands that have already been screenshotted.

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