This years Pwn2Own conference is shaping up to be rather interesting with the news of a new method of unlocking the iPhone baseband. Normally the unlocking of an iPhone wouldn’t be news enough to cause this kind of attention but this method is different. Ralf Philipp Weinmann, a research associate at the University of Luxembourg, will be discussing a gaping hole in security of the firmware used in baseband iPhone and Android devices. As of right now there’s no news of an ETA on a deployable iPhone unlock or if it’s connected in any way to this exploit.

In a demonstration of his exploit found via security holes in Qualcomm and Infineon firmware of GSM baseband processors Wienmann will show us something that has rather malicious potential. Wienmann says he will show us “how to use the auto-answer feature present in most phones to turn the telephone into a remote listening device” when his exploit completely defeats the data protection engineered into the firmware. Everyone from security analysts to hackers seem to be rather impressed with how sophisticated the exploit is. “[It's] like tipping over a rock that no one ever thought would be tipped over,” said a forensic and anti-forensic researcher who is known only as ‘the Grugq‘ to protect his own identity. “There are a lot of bugs hidden” in the baseband firmware, he added. “It is just a matter of actively looking for them”. Don Bailey, a security consultant with Isec Partners,  said Weinmann’s exploit is “an extremely technical attack,” but also feels confident that this will be a non-issue to the everyday users as it would require the attacker to have his own cellular base station. Bailey also goes on to note that using OpenBTS and about $2,000 of equipment, anyone could create their own station which in the past cost tens of thousands of dollars. “Now it’s a completely different game,” Bailey says. With all of this in mind, it’s expected that the exact details of this exploit won’t be released until Apple patches the security flaws.

Do you think if this exploit were to fall into the publics hands it would then become a problem or would there be very few willing to spend the money on the required equipment? Let us know in the comments below!

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[Source: PC World]

Authors: V_Geek

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