Intel’s Thunderbolt Interface Has Several Vulnerabilities That Allow Attackers to Steal Data in Minutes

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Eindhoven University of Technology researcher Björn Ruytenberg has revealed that Intel’s high-speed interface, Thunderbolt, suffers from seven vulnerabilities that allow malicious users to read and copy all of a host machine’s data, even if the drives are encrypted. Although physical access is required, the attack method – which Ruytenberg has dubbed “Thunderspy” – leaves zero traces and can be exploited in as little as five minutes with a screwdriver and portable hardware.



Thunderspy comprises the following attacks, which affect all three iterations of Thunderbolt:



Inadequate firmware verification schemesWeak device authentication schemeUse of unauthenticated device metadataDowngrade attack using backwards compatibilityUse of unauthenticated controller configurationsSPI flash interface deficienciesNo Thunderbolt...

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