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CallStranger vulnerability lets attacks bypass security systems and scan LANs:
A severe vulnerability resides in a core protocol found in almost all internet of things (IoT) devices.
The vulnerability, named CallStranger, allows attackers to hijack smart devices for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, but also for attacks that bypass security solutions to reach and conduct scans on a victim's internal network -- effectively granting attackers access to areas where they normally wouldn't be able to reach.
According to a website dedicated to the CallStranger vulnerability published today, the bug impacts UPnP, which stands for Universal Plug and Play, a collection of protocols that ship on most smart devices.
Also at Ars Technica.
[...] Çadirci says that an attacker can send TCP packets to a remote device that contains a malformed callback header value in UPnP's SUBSCRIBE function.
This malformed header can be abused to take advantage of any smart device that was left connected on the internet, and which supports the UPnP protocols -- such as security cameras, DVRs, printers, routers, and others.
In a CallStranger attack, the hacker effectively targets the device's internet-facing interface, but executes the code on the device's UPnP function, which usually runs on the internally-facing ports only (inside the LAN).
[...] In addition, Çadirci also published proof-of-concept scripts that companies can use to determine if their smart equipment is vulnerable to any of the CallStranger attacks.
The CallStranger security flaw is also tracked as CVE-2020-12695. There are currently around 5.45 million UPnP-capable devices connected to the internet, making this an ideal attack surface for IoT botnets and APTs.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Fnord666 on Friday June 12 2020, @04:55PM (2 children)
Not really. WPS is a simple way of getting a device onto your wireless network without having to manually set up the connection. UPnP on the other hand is for both wired and wireless devices on your network and allows them to negotiate discovery and port access with the router/gateway, including port access outside of your network's perimeter. Through UPnP the device can tell your router to start listening on a port on the internet side of things, allow an inbound connection on that port from the internet and forward that connection to the device.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @05:05PM
I was referring to this part, mostly facetiously, as WPS is a whole 'nother pile of holes like the commenter above noted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:50AM
Thank you for the snark-free uPnP summary though. I know what it is but it was still nice to read a clear and concise and technically accurate description.