Topic: Security – Ctrl blog

Patch origin trust vs GitHub’s URL hierarchy

2021-09-22T10:09:00Z

Attentive readers may have noticed something a bit weird with the GitHub patch links in my last article. I shared links to two patches for Ruby's Rake build system which I also said hadn't yet been accepted into Rake. Yet, the patches looked like they came directly from the Rake project's official code repository at https://github.com/ruby/rake/. So, how did I get a patch URL that’s indistinguishable from commits/patches that are part of a project?

Your clipboard is only as secure as your device

2021-05-14T10:11:00Z

The system clipboard is part of every modern operating system. It lets us copy and paste text, images, files, and data between different applications. Like everything else these days, it’s increasingly getting tied up with other people’s servers (“the cloud.”) So, what does that mean for your clipboard privacy?

Superfeedr sends logins in plain-text (a HSTS case study)

2021-04-22T01:55:00Z

I recently signed up for an account with Superfeedr (a WebSub Hub provider). I noticed a security issue in the sign-up process, and thought it would make an excellent case study for HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS). Here’s what Superfeedr did wrong, why they probably didn’t realize it, and how you can avoid making the same mistake in the future.

The entirely predictable problems with the Vulnonym naming scheme

2020-11-04T09:27:00Z

Security researchers increasingly give security vulnerabilities they discover a unique and memorable name and logo. Names (and cute logos) generate more exposure for the vulnerability and the researchers who found it. The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC) believes this naming trend invokes “fear, uncertainty, and doubt for vendors, researchers, and the general public.” To address the situation, it has introduced Vulnonyms: a system for automatically naming vulnerabilities. What could possibly go wrong?

TeamViewer RPM repo left door open for malicious packages

2020-11-02T15:50:00Z

Three months ago, I discovered a security vulnerability in TeamViewer RPM auto-updates on Linux. The vulnerability allowed an attacker-in-the-middle (AITM) to subvert the TeamViewer RPM package repository to install and execute arbitrary software with root permissions.