Saturday, December 14, 2024
HomeVulnerability AnalysisBrutePrint - Bruteforce Attack to Bypass User Authentication on Smartphones

BrutePrint – Bruteforce Attack to Bypass User Authentication on Smartphones

Published on

SIEM as a Service

A novel assault named ‘BrutePrint’ has been unveiled by the joint efforts of Tencent Labs and Zhejiang University researchers, enabling the forceful extraction of fingerprints on contemporary smartphones. 

This method circumvents user authentication, granting unauthorized access and full control over the targeted device.

Chinese researchers successfully bypassed existing security measures on smartphones, such as attempt limits and liveness detection, using two zero-day vulnerabilities, enabling them to perform brute-force attacks and gain unauthorized access to accounts, systems, or networks.

- Advertisement - SIEM as a Service

Here below we have mentioned those exploited zero-day vulnerabilities:-

  • Cancel-After-Match-Fail (CAMF)
  • Match-After-Lock (MAL)

BrutePrint Authentication bypass

Furthermore, analysts discovered a concern in protecting biometric data transmitted via the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) of fingerprint sensors. 

This inadequacy creates an opportunity for threat actors to perform man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, which enables the interception and hijacking of fingerprint images.

A comprehensive assessment was conducted on ten widely used smartphone models to evaluate the effectiveness of both BrutePrint and SPI MITM attacks

The results revealed that these attacks successfully allowed unlimited attempts on all Android and HarmonyOS-based devices from Huawei, while iOS devices exhibited a limited vulnerability with an additional ten attempts possible.

The fundamental concept behind BrutePrint involves carrying out an unrestricted sequence of fingerprint image submissions to the targeted device, persisting until a match is found with the user-defined fingerprint, without any imposed limits on the number of attempts.

By obtaining physical access to the target device, accessing a fingerprint database, and using affordable equipment of $15 approximately, attackers can launch a BrutePrint attack, manipulating the False Acceptance Rate (FAR) to increase the acceptance threshold for fingerprint matches and achieve easier unauthorized access.

BrutePrint exploits the CAMF flaw, injecting a checksum error in the fingerprint data, which bypasses protection systems and allows attackers to attempt infinite fingerprint matches on smartphones without being detected.

Exploiting the MAL vulnerability empowers attackers to deduce the authentication outcomes of the fingerprint images they test on the target device, even when the device is in a “lockout mode” state.

The BrutePrint attack bypasses the lockout mode by utilizing a mechanism called MAL and employs a “neural style transfer” system to modify fingerprint images in the database to resemble the target device’s sensor scans, increasing the likelihood of successful authentication.

Devices Tested Against BrutePrint

Through a series of experiments conducted on a selection of ten Android and iOS devices, the researchers discovered that each device exhibited susceptibility to at least one identified flaw.

While Android devices are vulnerable to brute-forcing attacks due to allowing unlimited fingerprint attempts, iOS devices have robust authentication security measures in place that effectively prevent such attacks.1

The researchers discovered that while certain iPhone models are vulnerable to CAMF, the limited number of fingerprint attempts (up to 15) makes it impractical to brute-force the owner’s fingerprint, and all tested Android devices are susceptible to the SPI MITM attack, except iPhones which encrypt fingerprint data on the SPI, rendering any interception ineffective.

While BrutePrint may appear to have limitations due to the need for prolonged access to the target device, its potential for enabling thieves to unlock stolen devices and extract private data, as well as the ethical concerns and privacy rights implications for law enforcement during investigations, raise significant issues regarding rights violations and the safety of individuals in overpowering countries.

Shut Down Phishing Attacks with Device Posture Security – Download Free E-Book

Gurubaran
Gurubaran
Gurubaran is a co-founder of Cyber Security News and GBHackers On Security. He has 10+ years of experience as a Security Consultant, Editor, and Analyst in cybersecurity, technology, and communications.

Latest articles

Nigerian National Extradited to Nebraska for Wire Fraud Charges

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced the extradition of Abiola Kayode, 37, from Nigeria...

Dell Security Update, Patch for Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities

Dell Technologies has released a security advisory addressing multiple critical vulnerabilities that could expose...

CISA Issues 10 New Advisories on Industrial Control System Vulnerabilities

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued ten critical advisories, highlighting vulnerabilities...

FBI Seizes Rydox Marketplace, Arrests Key Administrators

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the seizure of Rydox, an illicit online...

API Security Webinar

72 Hours to Audit-Ready API Security

APIs present a unique challenge in this landscape, as risk assessment and mitigation are often hindered by incomplete API inventories and insufficient documentation.

Join Vivek Gopalan, VP of Products at Indusface, in this insightful webinar as he unveils a practical framework for discovering, assessing, and addressing open API vulnerabilities within just 72 hours.

Discussion points

API Discovery: Techniques to identify and map your public APIs comprehensively.
Vulnerability Scanning: Best practices for API vulnerability analysis and penetration testing.
Clean Reporting: Steps to generate a clean, audit-ready vulnerability report within 72 hours.

More like this

New AI Tool To Discover 0-Days At Large Scale With A Click Of A Button

Vulnhuntr, a static code analyzer using large language models (LLMs), discovered over a dozen...

Critical Automative 0-Day Flaws Let Attackers Gain Full Control Over Cars

Recent discoveries in the automotive cybersecurity landscape have unveiled a series of critical zero-day...

Pootry EDR Killer Malware Wipes Out Security Tools From Windows Machine

Windows drivers can be abused to bypass security measures. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in...