Twitter

Its official, I am now a Twit!

A week or so ago I gave in and joined Twitter. After being on it for a week I must admit I am hooked. As cheesy as it sounds I do have a better connection with my friends but I also have a better connection with the security subculture that is starting to us Twitter. That is the real value I see in Twitter.

At Notacon I talked with a bunch of folks regarding how they keep up to date on security. A number of them mentioned they use Twitter for this, two folks even said they stopped RSSing blogs all together and just used Twitter to keep up to date. That is actually the main reason I joined, also Tom and I made a pact to join if the other one did.

For those of you on Twitter here is my profile. Here are some of the security Twits I follow: Agent0x0, Pauldotcom, Martin McKeay, McGreySecurity, Window and Spacerog.

If you are already on Twitter follow me. If you aren't on Twitter give it a try! You might be surprised how useful it can be.

Cheers,
Matt

P.S. The Twitter Fan Wiki is an excellent source if you need a hand getting up and running.

Shout Out

Shout out to Morningstar at the Shadows and Dust blog.

Cheers,
Matt

Bluetooth Penetration Testing Resources

Today while doing some research on Bluetooth I came across two site which are packed full of information.

The first is Martin Karger's Evilgenius blog. Martin has a number of excellent posts on Bluetooth and other wireless security topics.

The second is the Bluetooth Penetration Testing Framework. This site has a wealth of information on attacking Bluetooth.

If you are interested in Bluetooth security I recommend you check them out.

Cheers,
Matt

PA Turnpike Making High Energy Weapons!

On my way out to IKEA this weekend I discovered a secret weapons project sponsored by the PA Turnpike Authority. Along the way I passed many large Yagi antennas on the PA Turnpike. All are pointed towards Canada. Give the size of these antenna I think they are high powered energy weapon systems designed to protect us from our encroaching Canadian overlords.

Now that I have posted this story I know my life is in danger so I will be going into hiding inside a specially crafted tin foil cocoon.

Cheers,
Matt

P.S. I am not responsible for any actions taken by individuals who do not understand humor.

NEO InfoSec Forum Meeting This Wednesday!

This month's NEO InfoSec Forum meeting is this Wednesday. We have three talks lined up on Nagios, FreeRADIUS and Notacon. Everyone is welcome to attend. Meetings are free and include free pizza! More information on the meeting can be found here.

Cheers,
Matt

Bugtraq Post - Slowly Closing Door Race Condition

I'm not sure if this is an April Fools joke or not given the orginal release date. Either way on April 1st I)ruid from Computer Academic Underground released an interesting and entertaining security alert on a race condition that can exist with slow closing doors. I especially love the section explaining how to exploit the race condition.

It is always interesting to see what computer security folks come up with when they analyze physical security systems. Matt Blaze has a number of fascinating articles along these lines focusing on the mechanical security features used in locks and safes. I suspect we'll see more alerts like this as the convergence between physical and logical security continues to evolve.

Below is the advisory (original source):

                    ____      ____     __    __
                   /    \    /    \   |  |  |  |
      ----====####/  /\__\##/  /\  \##|  |##|  |####====----
                 |  |      |  |__|  | |  |  |  |
                 |  |  ___ |   __   | |  |  |  |
------======######\  \/  /#|  |##|  |#|  |##|  |######======------
                   \____/  |__|  |__|  \______/
                                         
              Computer Academic Underground
                  http://www.caughq.org
                    Security Advisory

===============/========================================================
Advisory ID:    CAU-2008-0001
Release Date:   04/01/2008
Title:          Slowly Closing Door Race Condition
Application/OS: Physical Structures
Topic:          Physical structures employing exit doors with locks
          are vulnerable to a race condition.
Vendor Status:  Not Notified
Attributes:     Physical, Race Condition
Advisory URL:   http://www.caughq.org/advisories/CAU-2008-0001.txt
Author/Email:   CAU 
===============/========================================================

Overview
========

Physical structures which employ automatically locking doors to secure
exit points expose a race condition which may allow unauthorized entry.


Impact
======

Malicious outsiders may be able to enter a structure via an exit point.

Exit points may additionally provide an exit from a secure area of the
structure, allowing an outsider entering through the exit point to gain
direct access to the secure area.


Affected Systems
================

Physical structures which employ automatically locking doors at exit
points of the structure.


Technical Explanation
=====================

An exit's lock[1] generally converts a two-way door into a one-way
door, allowing a person to traverse the door's threshold in one
direction but not in the other.  These types of locks are used to
secure exit points of structures so that people may exit via the door
but not re-enter without disabling the lock through force or
authentication.

When a person exits the structure through an exit point which is
secured by such a mechanism, a race condition exists wherein a
malicious outsider may be able to reach the door and enter through it
before it closes and locks itself.

Many doors, especially heavier ones, also employ closing mechanisms[2]
which are designed to cause the door to close slowly so as not to slam
the door shut and damage the door frame, or damage any human appendage
which may be in between the door and it's frame.  Such closing
mechanisms can greatly increase the amount of time that the race
condition exists.


Solution & Recommendations
==========================

1) Always ensure that personnel exiting an exit door wait outside the
door until it has completely closed and locked before walking
away.

2) Employ a double door system such as is used in an air-lock where
the interior door must be secured prior to the exterior door being
allowed to open.


Exploitation
============

First identify the exit point that you want to exploit.  Stand at a
safe distance during a high-traffic time and watch for people to use
the exit point.  Time how long it takes for the door to close and
lock itself when someone traverses the exit point.

Next, identify a safe hiding place near the exit point, preferably
in a direction that would be behind a person exiting the door, but
which is within a distance to the exit point which you could traverse
in under the door's closing time at a brisk pace or run.

Finally, hide in this location during a lower traffic time and wait
for someone to utilize the exit point.  After they have exited the
door and are walking away, run to the door and enter before it has
closed and locked.  Extra points are awarded for a spectacular dive
and/or roll to catch the door at the very last second.


References
==========

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_%28device%29
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_closer


Credits & Gr33ts
================

Theodor Geisel, AHA!, NMRC, Uninformed Journal, dc214

Notacon This Weekend

Tomorrow I'll be heading off the Notacon for the weekend. If anyone else is going to be there and wants to meet up drop me an email or leave a comment.

Cheers,
Matt