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For Years, a Backdoor in Popular KiwiSDR Product Gave Root to Project Developer

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 19 2021, @04:52PM   
from the pwned dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

For years, a backdoor in popular KiwiSDR product gave root to project developer:

KiwiSDR is hardware that uses a software-defined radio to monitor transmissions in a local area and stream them over the Internet. A largely hobbyist base of users does all kinds of cool things with the playing-card-sized devices. For instance, a user in Manhattan could connect one to the Internet so that people in Madrid, Spain, or Sydney, Australia, could listen to AM radio broadcasts, CB radio conversations, or even watch lightning storms in Manhattan.

On Wednesday, users learned that for years, their devices had been equipped with a backdoor that allowed the KiwiSDR creator—and possibly others—to log in to the devices with administrative system rights. The remote admin could then make configuration changes and access data not just for the KiwiSDR but in many cases to the Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, or other computing devices the SDR hardware is connected to.

Archived copy of the story.

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Original Submission

• Re:Cryptic Studios game engine. (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @12:04AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @12:04AM (#1158106)

  And some wonder why a few of us prefer consoles over PCs, the industry's over-zealous philosophies behind both anti-piracy AND anti-cheating measures are in direct-conflict with the security of my machine. I can weather a botched DRM locking up my PS5 but if my workstation goes....

  Parent

  Starting Score:	0		points
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