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News D-Link routers contain back-door code, claims researcher

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 14 Oct 2013.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Gareth Halfacree, 14 Oct 2013
    #1
  2. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    If you reverse the string it says "edit by [...]" rather than "edited by [...]"
     
    mi1ez, 14 Oct 2013
    #2
  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Hah! I'd written 'edit' the first time around, then when I was giving the article a final scan-through before publication I automatically corrected the grammar without a second thought. Fixed, ta!
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 14 Oct 2013
    #3
  4. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I've updated the article with a brief comment from D-Link announcing that it will be patching the back-door by the end of the month, which fails to actually address any of the questions raised. I've pressed for clarification.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 14 Oct 2013
    #4
  5. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    I'd guess that any modern device, be it a computer, a router or whaterver has a backdoor implemented these days.
     
    jrs77, 14 Oct 2013
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  6. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Trufax, but there are clever backdoors - "let's stick a cryptographic public key in there, and if our private key knocks open up a hole" - and dumb backdoors - "hey, let's open a hole when someone uses a plaintext string that appears in our easily-analysed and publicly-available firmware files as their user agent. THAT WON'T GO WRONG AT ALL."

    (Although, in D-Link's defence, it took a fair few years for anyone to publicise the vulnerability - which isn't to say it hasn't been discovered and exploited by ne'er-do-wells clever enough to keep their new toy quiet in the past, of course.)
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 14 Oct 2013
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  7. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    Blimey, that's a pretty embarrassing gaffe for such a major player in the router market these days. Could be very useful for people trying to open up their ISP's routers though.
     
    Krikkit, 14 Oct 2013
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  8. Alecto

    Alecto Minimodder

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    Well there's always the (free) alternative that works with a number of routers (and to be honest, those that are tied down by the manufacturers should be avoided anyway):

    http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/build

    You can build your own version after auditing the code.
     
    Alecto, 14 Oct 2013
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  9. sp4nky

    sp4nky BF3: Aardfrith WoT: McGubbins

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    Funnily enough, I've just taken delivery of a D-Link NAS. It's getting sent back now. Also, power cable was faulty but still, I'm now asking for a full refund instead of a replacement.
     
    sp4nky, 14 Oct 2013
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  10. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    D-Link has responded to my questions with a defence of the back-door code. There are still some outstanding issues to be addressed, however, including its apparent presence in DIR-615 routers - which aren't on the list of devices getting a firmware update it provided this morning.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 16 Oct 2013
    #10
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