-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Advisory ID: SYSS-2022-043 Product: Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD Manufacturer: Verbatim Affected Version(s): #53402 (GDMSLK02 C-INIC3637-V1.1) Tested Version(s): #53402 (GDMSLK02 C-INIC3637-V1.1) Vulnerability Type: Use of a Cryptographic Primitive with a Risky Implementation (CWE-1240) Risk Level: High Solution Status: Fixed Manufacturer Notification: 2022-06-29 Solution Date: 2022-07 Public Disclosure: 2022-10-07 CVE Reference: CVE-2022-28384 Author of Advisory: Matthias Deeg (SySS GmbH) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overview: The Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD is a portable USB drive with AES 256-bit hardware encryption and a built-in keypad for passcode entry. The manufacturer describes the product as follows: "The AES 256-bit Hardware Encryption seamlessly encrypts all data on the drive in real-time with a built-in keypad for password input. The hard drive does not store passwords in the computer or system’s volatile memory making it far more secure than software encryption. Also, if it falls into the wrong hands, the hard drive will lock and require re-formatting after 20 failed password attempts."[1] Due to an insecure design, the Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD is vulnerable to an offline brute-force attack for finding out the correct passcode and thus gaining unauthorized access to the stored encrypted data. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vulnerability Details: When analyzing the external storage device Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD, Matthias Deeg found out that it uses an insecure design which allows for offline brute-force attacks against the passcode. The device consists of the following four main parts: 1. An SSD with M.2 form factor 2. A USB-to-SATA bridge controller (INIC-3637EN) 3. An SPI flash memory chip (XT25F01D) containing the firmware of the INIC-3637EN 4. A keypad controller (unknown chip, marked "SW611 2201") For encrypting the data stored on the SSD, the hardware AES engine of the INIC-3637EN is used. More specifically, AES-256 in ECB (Electronic Codebook) mode is used for data encryption, which is also a security issue by itself described in SySS security advisory SYSS-2022-044[2]. The cryptographic key for the actual data encryption, the so-called data encryption key (DEK), is stored in a special sector of the SSD which in turn is encrypted using AES-256-ECB with a so-called key encryption key (KEK). This KEK is derived from the entered passcode which can be between five and twelve digits long, and generated by the keypad controller. When the unlock button is pressed on the Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD, this generated AES 256-bit key is transmitted via SPI communication from the keypad controller to the USB-to-SATA bridge controller INIC-3637EN for configuring the corresponding hardware AES engine. For verifying the entered passcode, the firmware of the INIC-3637EN reads and decrypts the special sector on the SSD with the provided KEK and checks specific data offsets for the known byte pattern (signature) "0x20 0x49 0x4E 0x49" which represents the string " INI". If this byte pattern could successfully be found, the entered passcode and its derived AES key is very likely correct and grants the firmware access to the decrypted DEK, which can then be used to decrypt the actual SSD user data. This described design of the Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD allows for offline brute-force attacks for finding the correct passcode, because an attacker can generate and observe the derived AES keys (KEK) of the keypad for all possible passcodes and then try to correctly decrypt the data of a specific SSD sector. If the magic byte pattern " INI" can be detected in the expected places of the resulting plaintext, the correct passcode is found, which then allows for gaining unauthorized access to the encrypted user data. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proof of Concept (PoC): For demonstrating the offline brute-force attack, Matthias Deeg developed a sample brute-forcing software tool which checks the complete search space of all possible passcodes between five and twelve digits. The following output exemplarily shows a successful attack. >VKSCracker.exe _ _ _ __ _____ _____ _ | | | | | / // ___| / __ \ | | | | | | |/ / \ `--. | / \/_ __ __ _ ___| | _____ _ __ | | | | \ `--. \ | | | '__/ _` |/ __| |/ / _ \ '__| \ \_/ / |\ \/\__/ / | \__/\ | | (_| | (__| < __/ | \___/\_| \_/\____/ \____/_| \__,_|\___|_|\_\___|_| ... finds out your passcode. Verbatim Keypad Secure Cracker v0.6 by Matthias Deeg (c) 2022 - --- [*] Found 8 logical processors [*] Found 2 physical drives [*] Trying to read magic sector from device \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0 [*] Trying to read magic sector from device \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 [*] Found a plausible magic sector for Verbatim Keypad Secure (#49428) or Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD (#53402) [*] Initialize passcode hash table [*] Start cracking ... [+] Success! The passcode is: 12345678 [*] Some statistics Total cracking time: 5.37 seconds Candidates per second: 10132001 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solution: The described offline brute-force attack was fixed by the Verbatim "Security Update July 2022"[4]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclosure Timeline: 2022-06-29: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer 2022-07 : Manufacturer publishes security update[4] 2022-10-07: Public release of security advisory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ References: [1] Product website for Verbatim Store 'n' Go Secure Portable SSD https://www.verbatim.com.au/products/store-n-go-portable-ssd-with-keypad-access/ [2] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2022-044 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2022-044.txt [3] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2022-043 https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2022-043.txt [4] Security Update July 2022: Store 'n' Go Portable SSD https://www.verbatim-europe.co.uk/en/support-centre/?part_no=53402 [5] SySS GmbH, SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy https://www.syss.de/en/responsible-disclosure-policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Credits: This security vulnerability was found by Matthias Deeg of SySS GmbH. E-Mail: matthias.deeg (at) syss.de Public Key: https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Matthias_Deeg.asc Key fingerprint = D1F0 A035 F06C E675 CDB9 0514 D9A4 BF6A 34AD 4DAB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer: The information provided in this security advisory is provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. Details of this security advisory may be updated in order to provide as accurate information as possible. The latest version of this security advisory is available on the SySS website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright: Creative Commons - Attribution (by) - Version 3.0 URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCgAdFiEE0fCgNfBs5nXNuQUU2aS/ajStTasFAmM+11IACgkQ2aS/ajSt Tasm9RAAqHsyrepT75sgj1e8wMhlZLKJpY8HprjeMdqYG36Y8xbZzcRIVO0wMJkP NcaLDxfuM7f8diYNalEHDaPR/EXiM4HIHBjE5PUwNT4bjuOWErIJS4H6WgKO0x2T TCZJ5M5OjCpEGB9ugBQzq0cVe1nnOugQ8mgQfzkoLLTaAHMg9tl0w5TmyQd13Vka 3dMN6tw/FgLOnHjemlezIPz10vgTYkRkyfA4f/+BKKGoHcIXwcsoD/WrPW8VyLMI HNnwhyk8yNtyRed7b+rre1kZwovr4kcLTmfGdYgZD8THiJrV9fVuDeKebKoQTfUX aW1Nwan8z9TfcGXPpF0onVQVccFCXXojfLnBEVTWFgZ0tGccCMEcX6jqfJJu4iv9 U+y/zjgp7f7XJX05p8kRlAGPggZS3yJJ6okZBGnaCYVa4nxv3ZnPfu4wiqpAMxSN rWTDcfT1MDcsbXonbSk956C6CVDPujxrn2Wg9Pyx7nSj4CF+S6jpJdenn2tKb4kG Ep6wWV+0w45KiIp/PjwL6WW1WV+/9nie5sKV2u9E53pMgEseJgFcknnaj+4O62iX 27zyi5t5NnkEUsieGrWJ0KUE9+s/JZeV8oJQR8trD161VzkTIivDkqdBg4J+Damh +kNomh58kaL5WDv9eau9EAc+XfQhZzw8P+ENIZ2jfkeBSfG+F5o= =XJMR -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----