full-disclosure - Re: Firewire Attack on Windows Vista

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Message-ID: <20080306223022.GI5138@sentinelchicken.org>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 14:30:22 -0800
From: Tim <tim-security@...tinelchicken.org>
To: Glenn.Everhart@...se.com
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk, bugtraq@...urityfocus.com
Subject: Re: Firewire Attack on Windows Vista

Hi Glenn,

> It should be realized though that fixing this is not necessarily a simple
> thing, nor are architectural considerations missing. 

I most probably understated the difficulty of implementing a safe
ieee1394 DMA driver earlier.  However, it's one of those things where
the drivers ought to at least default to a safe configuration and allow
those who like operating in the "wild west" for the purposes of speed to
do so.

> As for what can be done by Windows (as opposed to "any OS"), that is perhaps
> limited by the great range of underlying hardware. A compromise which might allow
> DMA to/from disks, tapes, or CDs but disallow it for most other peripherals
> might turn out to be the best general solution available, or something 
> comparably ugly.

In the specific case of FireWire, Windows already does this, but that is
exactly how the restrictions were bypassed.  You can't trust a disk
device any more than any other device, since a laptop can simply emulate
a storage device.

cheers,
tim

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