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posted by cmn32480 on Friday June 16 2017, @10:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the let-me-contain-my-surprise dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Home routers from 10 manufacturers, including Linksys, DLink, and Belkin, can be turned into covert listening posts that allow the Central Intelligence Agency to monitor and manipulate incoming and outgoing traffic and infect connected devices. That's according to secret documents posted Thursday by WikiLeaks.

The 175-page CherryBlossom user guide describes a Linux-based operating system that can run on a broad range of routers. Once installed, CherryBlossom turns the device into a "FlyTrap" that beacons a CIA-controlled server known as a "CherryTree." The beacon includes device status and security information that the CherryTree logs to a database. In response, the CherryTree sends the infected device a "Mission" consisting of specific tasks tailored to the target. CIA operators can use a "CherryWeb" browser-based user interface to view Flytrap status and security information, plan new missions, view mission-related data, and perform system administration tasks.

[...] All the communications between the FlyTrap and the CIA-controlled CherryTree, with the exception of copied network data, is encrypted and cryptographically authenticated. For extra stealth, the encrypted data masquerades as a browser cookie in an HTTP GET request for an image file. The CherryTree server then responds to the request with a corresponding binary image file.

CherryBlossom is the latest release in WikiLeaks Vault7 series, which the site purports was made possible when the "CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal." CIA officials have declined to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents, but based on the number of pages and unique details exposed in the series, there is broad consensus among researchers that the documents are actual CIA materials.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by J053 on Saturday June 17 2017, @12:57AM

    by J053 (3532) <dakineNO@SPAMshangri-la.cx> on Saturday June 17 2017, @12:57AM (#526711) Homepage
    One of the firmware builds listed (page 174 of the document) is:
    16.7 Firmware Upgrade Procedures: Linksys WRT54GL v1 fw ddwrt_v24_sp1_std_generic_10011
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2