Most individuals know that they shouldn’t plug unusual flash drives into their computer systems, however what a couple of USB cable? A cable doesn’t instantly register as an lively digital gadget to most individuals, however it’s fully attainable to cover a small, malicious microcontroller contained in the shell of one of many plugs. [Joel Serna Moreno] and a few collaborators have executed simply that with their Evil Crow Cable-Wind.
This cable is available in two variants: one USB-A to USB-C, and one with USB-C to USB-C. A tiny circuit board containing an ESP32-S3 hides inside a USB-C plug on every cable, and may perform a keystroke injection assault. The cable’s firmware is open-source, and has a formidable set of options: a payload syntax checker, payload autocompletion, OS detection, and the power to impersonate the USB gadget of your selection.
The cable offers a management interface over WiFi, and it’s attainable to edit and deploy reside payloads with out bodily entry to the cable (that is the place the syntax checker needs to be notably helpful). The firmware additionally offers a distant shell for computer systems and not using a community connection; the cable opens a shell on the goal pc which routes instructions and responses by means of the cable’s WiFi connection (demonstrated within the video beneath).
The primary benefit of the Evil Crow Cable Wind is its worth: solely about $25, at which level you possibly can afford to lose a couple of throughout deployment. We’ve beforehand seen a malicious cable as soon as earlier than. After all, these assaults aren’t restricted to cables and USB drives; we’ve seen them in USB-C docks, in a gaming mouse, and the worry of them in followers.
Due to [rustysun9] for the tip!
