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A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

googleprojectzero.blogspot.com

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Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#261

Post by weaksauce »

goblinux wrote: post #181
malshe wrote: post #52

From the top of the article: > We want to thank Citizen Lab for sharing a sample of the FORCEDENTRY exploit with us, and Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR) group for collaborating with us on the technical analysis. This reminded me that NSO went after Citizen Lab on multiple fronts. They even tried to use a spy to talk to JSR ( https://www.johnscottrailton.com ) and make him say controversial things…

Darknet Diaries is so good. To anyone who hasn't listened, highly recommend. Jack hits a homerun each week and the story about JSR and NSO was buck wild

yeah it really is refreshing to hear a podcast for the masses that actually gets technical details correct. It's a pet peeve when people simplify it and get it really wrong.

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#262

Post by wolverine876 »

sneak wrote: post #149

> Recently, however, it has been documented that NSO is offering their clients zero-click exploitation technology, where even very technically savvy targets who might not click a phishing link are completely unaware they are being targeted. In the zero-click scenario no user interaction is required. Meaning, the attacker doesn't need to send phishing messages; the exploit just works silently in the background. Short…

They are discussing a descriptive class of attacks and saying there is no defense against them. Clearly there are defenses; it's a bit sensationalistic.

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#263

Post by 63 »

xiphias2 wrote: post #105
ASalazarMX wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they solved P = NP, their first intention would be selling it to the highest bidder. NSO hackers are the digital equivalent of mercenary soldiers.

They don’t really have to, they can just mine Bitcoin by reversing SHA256 in polynomial time, inspect https messages to banks, or send Bitcoin to themselves by creating an ECDSA signature… or just set up a software as a service and have the biggest business in the world.

That's assuming that the solution to whether P=NP is P=NP and not P≠NP, isn't it?

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#264

Post by just_steve_h »

rodgerd wrote: post #146
nlh wrote: post #53

As other have commented, this is absolutely mind-bogglingly hard core. Kudos to the NSO group engineers who designed and built this (regardless of your allegiances and whether you like or dislike that they do this and whether it's objectively good or evil or somewhere in between, you have to admit that it's deeply technically impressive). Does anyone have a sense of who they sold this to and who used this particular…

> regardless of your allegiances and whether you like or dislike that they do this and whether it's objectively good or evil or somewhere in between, you have to admit that it's deeply technically impressiv Might as well praise German logistics circa 1940-1945.

"Say what you will about those Fascists, at least they made the trains run on time!"

(Note on the above off-repeated cliche: they did not, in fact, make the trains run on time.)

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#266

Post by djmips »

thweroi23423 wrote: post #265

It increasingly appears that half the "security bugs" wouldn't even arise if we'd stuck to modern languages like Lisp in the 90s. Progress, contrary to Western dogma is not always for the better.

I seriously doubt you can prove that.

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#267

Post by roughly »

pradn wrote: post #66
rwaksmunski wrote: post #32

And NSO is the value option. Now imagine what nation states with an actual budget have at their disposal.

It's still pretty expensive! NSO charged a flat $500,000 fee for installing Pegasus. It charged government agencies $650,000 to spy on 10 iPhones; $650,000 for 10 Android users; $500,000 for five BlackBerry users; or $300,000 for five Symbian users.

For the capability and who they're charging, frankly, that sounds cheap. For an example of what a nation state is willing to spend to target a single individual, a hellfire missile costs about $150k and doesn't generate intel in the process.

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#268

Post by jaywalk »

nexuist wrote: post #220
cronix wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It came out in the recent trial that the FBI couldn't open Kyle Rittenhouse's iPhone, which was the latest generation at that time last year.

Wait, but Kyle Rittenhouse was still alive and participated in the trial. They couldn't just make him open it himself?

First of all, that's kind of a sticky subject in the US due to the Fifth Amendment. Second of all, I have no idea what the parent commenter is talking about. Rittenhouse willingly turned his phone over to investigators.

Re: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution

#270

Post by djmips »

w0mbat wrote: post #102

One the one hand you've got people writing insanely complex hacks like this. On the other hand there's the guy who was doing whatever he wanted for years just by crafting dodgy plist files. https://blog.siguza.net/psychicpaper/

However that plist hack wasn't anywhere near useful to someone like NSO. Different ballgame.
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