Macbook or Sony Vaio?

[bouncer_the_dog]

Erm.. hello? Perhaps you missed the part earlier in this thread where I described both the Dell and the MacBook Pro as being "clearly excellent machines."

Is that enough praise for you?

i suppose that'll have to do

 

[jæd]

Macbook air hacked within 2 minutes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20080327/tc_infoworld/96676

Miller, best known as one of the researchers who first hacked Apple's iPhone last year, didn't take much time. Within 2 minutes, he directed the contest's organizers to visit a Web site that contained his exploit code, which then allowed him to seize control of the computer, as about 20 onlookers cheered him on.

...

Contest rules state that Miller could only take advantage of software that was preinstalled on the Mac, so the flaw he exploited must have been accessible by, or possibly inside, Apple's Safari browser.

Interesting... Some kind of Safari exploit. I would guess its something to do with Dmg loading...

 

[gnoriac]

Personally, if I had to recommend a portable minicomputer I reckon you should get a DEC PDP11, awesome machine with one of the best OS's ever.

Which OS? I used to be a RSX-11M systems programmer.

[eyes glaze over remembering drivers and ACPs he wrote]

 

[editor]

Macbook air hacked within 2 minutes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20080327/tc_infoworld/96676

That competition's got a great name: PWN2OWN! If you hack it, you get to keep it. Nice.

There's a lively chat about the 120 second Mac pwnage on Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/pwn-2-own-over-macbook-air-gets-seized-in-2-minutes-flat/

Here's the spoddy hacker guy in action:

More pwning competition updates (it's ongoing): http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog...e-have-our-first-official-winner-with-picture

 

[jæd]

Interesting... Some kind of Safari exploit. I would guess its something to do with Dmg loading...

Looking into this, this happened on day # 2, so at least the sky isn't falling in... It will interesting whether the "hacker" also got a rights elevation...

Although I would predict much Internet punditery (most of it wrong, incorrect, and just plain barmy) and much wittering + hand wringing (again mostly incorrect) from bloggers...

 

[gnoriac]

From the Register's report:

Charlie Miller, who was the first security researcher to remotely exploit the iPhone, felled the Mac by tapping a security bug in Safari. The exploit involved getting an end user to click on a link, which opened up a port that he was then able to telnet into. Once connected, he was able to remotely run code of his choosing.

Presumably the people who act as end-users in these trials aren't dummies...

Interestingly:

He said he chose Apple over the other machines because "I thought of the three it was the easiest". He said he didn't test the exploit on any other platform.

 

[jæd]

From the Register's report:

Presumably the people who act as end-users in these trials aren't dummies...

AFAIK, he asked for a specific link to be clicked. This is within the day #2 rules...

Why did he target the MacBook Air over the others...?

(a) He knew of an exploit and (b) he wanted a Mac Air...

Its interesting that its being reported as a two minute hack. Um, nope. He probably worked on this a while beforehand...

Its also interesting reading the rules. (http://cansecwest.com/post/2008-03-20.21:33:00.CanSecWest_PWN2OWN_2008). So far, it doesn't appear if there was a privilege escalation. To win you just to run a program that reveals how to claim the prize. (And by the rules its not 100% clear that its Safari that was targetted...)

 

[editor]

Looking into this, this happened on day # 2, so at least the sky isn't falling in...

It was day one of hackers being able to direct the machine to a malicious URL. Only the Mac was hacked. All three machines (Vista, Ubunti,. Mac) survived day one's attempts.

Here's last year's results: http://www.matasano.com/log/806/hot-off-the-matasano-sms-queue-cansec-macbook-challenge-won/

AFAIK, he asked for a specific link to be clicked.

That's correct. And it was the same for all three platforms.

Although I would predict much Internet punditery (most of it wrong, incorrect, and just plain barmy) and much wittering + hand wringing (again mostly incorrect) from bloggers...

Blimey, that's a bit of a rant. Could you give some examples? And why should you care, anyway? There's loads of shit written on the Internet - and some of it here!

Anyway, organisers are expecting all the laptops to be hacked today, with hackers able to attack popular third-party software that can be installed on the systems.

 

[jæd]

It was day one of hackers being able to direct the machine to a malicious URL. Only the Mac was hacked. All three machines (Vista, Ubunti,. Mac) survived day one's attempts.

Ah, here are the full rules : http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/19/cansecwest-pwn-to-own-2008

Day 1: March 26th: Remote pre-auth
All laptops will be open only for Remotely exploitable Pre-Auth vulnerabilities which require no user interaction. First one to pwn it, receives the laptop and a $20,000 cash prize.
The pwned machine(s) will be taken out of the contest at that time.

Day 2: March 27th: Default client-side apps
The attack surfaces increases to also include any default installed client-side applications which can be exploited by following a link through email, vendor supplied IM client or visiting a malicious website. First one to pwn it receives the laptop and a $10,000 cash prize.
The pwned machine(s) will be taken out of the contest at that time.

Day 3: March 28th: Third Party apps
Assuming the laptops are still standing, we will finally add some popular 3rd party client applications to the scope. That list will be made available at CanSecWest, and will be also posted here on the blog. First to pwn it receives the laptop and a $5,000 cash prize.

So the successful attack was on day #2, which is also day #1 of "physical" interaction. And it looks like it may well be Safari... I wonder when there'll be a patch...

 

[ethel]

i love my macbook. i was in the apple store the other day stealing their wi fi and a pc to mac presentation was on. i'd forgotten how ugly Vista is.

 

[editor]

"The pwned machine(s) will be taken out of the contest at that time."

Ah, so the Air is no longer in the competition and it's just the VAIO and Fujitsu U810 left.

 

[editor]

i love my macbook. i was in the apple store the other day stealing their wi fi and a pc to mac presentation was on. i'd forgotten how ugly Vista is.

I'd certainly describe Vista as being over the top with flippant sparkly stuff and pointlessly stuffed with processor-hogging eye candy, but 'ugly' isn't a word I'd use. I think it's a very attractive-looking OS and well suited for the consumer market. I don't particularly like it, mind.

 

[ChrisFilter]

i'd forgotten how ugly Vista is.

I think it looks quite nice, truth be told. A million times nicer than XP, still uglier than OSX, but mainstream linux GUIs piss on all of them.

 

[editor]

The Vista laptop is still surviving well into day three!

"2:30pm PST Update: Its been two hours so far, and both Vista and Ubuntu laptops are still standing. Stay tuned..."
http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/28/pwn-to-own-final-day-and-wrap-up

 

[cybershot]

The ubuntu machine survived. It took an Adobe flash install to get into the Vista machine.

:30pm PST Update - Vista Laptop was Won!: Congratulations to Shane Macaulay from Security Objectives - he has just won the Fujitsu U810 laptop running Vista Ultimate SP1 after it was installed with the latest version of Adobe Flash. Not only is he the official winner of the Fujitsu laptop, but also $5,000 from us. Shane received some assistance from his friends Derek Callaway (also from Security Objectives) and Alexander Sotirov. If you'll also remember, Shane Macaulay was Dino Dai Zovi's on-site team member at last year's PWN to OWN event in which they ultimately took the top prize.

The new Adobe Flash 0day vulnerability that Shane exploited has been acquired by the Zero Day Initiative, and has been responsibly disclosed to Adobe who is now working on the issue. Until Adobe releases a patch for this issue, neither we nor the contestants will be giving out any additional information about the vulnerability. You will be able to track the vulnerability on the Zero Day Initiative upcoming advisories page.

 

[editor]

So it took 2 days plus 9 hours to hack the Vista machine when it was pitched against determined, expert hackers encouraged by a big prize. I'd say that dispels a few myths about the supposed laxness of Windows security.