Comodohacker: I can hack Windows Update
by Steven Mostyn - Sep 13 2011, 08:38
Hackable?
Following on from the recent hack attack carried out against Dutch security specialist DigiNotar (read), it would appear notorious hacker Comodohacker is setting his/her sights on a significantly bigger target.
Moreover, while claiming to be “so smart, sharp, dangerous [and] powerful”, the hacker has offered up a statement conflicting directly with Microsoft’s recent insistence that its Windows Update system cannot be compromised.
“I’m able to issue Windows updates—Microsoft’s statement about Windows Update and that I can’t issue such [an] update is totally false,” the hacker wrote via Pastebin. “Simply I can issue updates via Windows Update!”
“I already reversed ENTIRE Windows update protocol, how it reads XMLs via SSL, which includes URL, KB no, SHA-1 hash of file for each update, how it verifies that downloaded file is signed using WinVerifyTrust API,” the post boasted.
Although Microsoft remains staunch in its belief that Windows Update cannot be circumvented “even to an attacker with a fraudulent certificate”, hundreds of millions of unwitting users could face a flood of malware if Comodohacker is able to make good on the claim.
“Attackers are not able to leverage a fraudulent Windows Update certificate to install malware via the Windows Update servers”, wrote the software giant via its official blog.
“The Windows Update client will only install binary payloads signed by the actual Microsoft root CA certificate, which is issued and secured by Microsoft,” it added.
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