Thursday, July 7, 2016

Flaw Allows Attackers to Remotely Hack BMW's In-Car Infotainment Systems


The Internet of things or connected devices are the next big concerns, as more Internet connectivity means more access points which mean more opportunities for hackers.

When it comes to the threat to Internet of Things,

Car Hacking

is a hot topic.

Since many automobiles companies are offering cars that run mostly on the drive-by-wire system, a majority of functions are electronically controlled, like instrument cluster, steering, brakes, and accelerator.

No doubt these auto-control systems in vehicles improve your driving experience, but at the same time increase the risk of getting hacked.

Recently, security researchers have disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities that reside the official BMW web domain and ConnectedDrive portal and the worst part: the vulnerabilities remain unpatched and open for hackers.

Researchers from Vulnerability-Labs have discovered both the vulnerabilities.

The first one is a VIN (

Vehicle Identification Number

) session vulnerability which resides in the official BMW ConnectedDrive online service web-application.

BMW ConnectedDrive is a in-Car infotainment systems offers a wide range of intelligent services and apps that provide you with information and entertainment during your journey, as well as allows you to create driver profiles, receive-read-reply to e-mails, manage connected Smart Home devices, helps to regulate the heating/lights/alarm system and get live traffic information.

BMW's VIN is a unique code used to identify individual vehicle models connected to the service.

However, the flaw located in the session management of VIN usage could allow attackers to bypass the secure validation procedures of the VIN remotely using a live session.

This

session validation vulnerability

could be exploited by an attacker with a low-privilege web-application user account and no user interaction.

This could allow the attacker to manipulate VIN numbers and configuration settings, like compromising registered or VIN numbers via ConnectedDrive.

The second flaw is a Client side 

cross-site scripting vulnerability

that resides in the official BMW online service web-application in the password reset the token system.

The security vulnerability doesn’t require privileged web-application user; rather a low user interaction is needed to inject a malicious payload into the vulnerable module.

Successful exploitation of the security flaw allows a remote attacker to inject malicious script codes into the affected module, potentially resulting in session hijacking, phishing attacks, redirecting users to malicious source, and manipulation of affected or connected application modules.

Vulnerability Labs reported the security issues to the automaker in February this year, to which BMW responded after two months. Since there was no announcement by the company about the fixes to these issues, the researchers went public on July 7.

This is not the first time researchers have reported threats to connected cars. Previous research demonstrated hackers capabilities to

hack a car remotely

and control its steering and brakes and to

disable car's critical functions

like airbags by exploiting security bugs affecting significant automobiles.

Keeping these risks in mind, in April this year, the Michigan state Senate proposed two bills that introduce life sentences in

prison for people who hack into cars

’ electronic systems. Also, the FBI issued a public announcement

warning

people about the risks of car hacking.



from The Hacker News http://ift.tt/29tJ4OZ

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