Laptops, apparently of any kind, can be hacked by hackers using a simple USB-C charger, thanks to a vulnerability that allows exploitation using this standard. In the video clip below you have a demonstration in which an Apple MacBook is hacked using a USB-C charger, the person who made everything stating that the process is done without the user ever having any idea about what it happens.
In order for a laptop to be hacked in such a way, it is necessary for that charger to be modified to include a series of special components that also have the software that is injected into the computer. The interesting part is that although the demonstration is done on an Apple MacBook, those who carried out the experiment claim that any laptop that has a USB-C port can be exploited in the same way by a malicious person.
Laptops can be SHARED with a USB-C Charger
Demo of a work in progress. I'm looking for help with writing payloads. Come chat with me at @defcon if you'd like to collaborate.
Power adapter. Silent infection. Cross platform. Not just Apple hardware.
Project page with info: https://t.co/b62N5cWVSG
1 / n pic.twitter.com/pxwrb9o9HU- _MG_ (@_MG_) August 3
Neither laptops running Windows, nor those running macOS, currently have alerts to tell users that they have been infected in such a way, but the researchers have not yet disclosed the exploitation method. In one of the exploits made by them, the login screen for operating systems is modified to steal login data in laptops, but this is only one of the possibilities.
"When you plug in a device and it's automatically trusted, that may not be a good idea […] We could start doing some level of trust-based pairing that we see with Bluetooth devices, or some level of firewall so that at least the first time a new device is plugged in you should be alerted."
In other exploitation methods, hackers can modify any kind of websites to steal login data for almost any platform, so we are talking about something that is impossible to detect by an ordinary user. At the moment, the only method of protection against an attack of this kind is to buy only original chargers, those from various unknown manufacturers, especially Chinese ones, which can infect laptops through USB-C ports.
