Minifig9292 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 A renowned security researcher has discovered that the microcontroller used to monitor the power level of an Apple laptop can be compromised. This can allow a hacker to run custom code, potentially even causing the battery to explode. Security expert Charlie Miller, notorious for his hacking feats against Apple systems, reportedly examined the batteries in several Macbooks, Macbook Pros and Macbook Airs, and found an alarming vulnerability. The researcher has found that the batteries’ microcontroller chips ship with default passwords. Once a hacker learns that password, they can learn to control the chips’ firmware and potentially hijack them. Bad scenarios proposed by Miller include permanently ruining they battery, implanting it with hidden malware that infects the computer regardless of what is stored on the hard drive, and even potentially cause the battery to heat up or catch fire. According to the security researcher, a hacker could well cause the laptop’s battery to explode. “These batteries just aren’t designed with the idea that people will mess with them,†Miller said. “What I’m showing is that it’s possible to use them to do something really bad.†Miller found the passwords used to access Apple batteries by reverse-engineering a 2009 software update from Apple tasked with fixing a problem with Macbook batteries. “You could put a whole hard drive in, reinstall the software, flash the BIOS, and every time it would reattack and screw you over. There would be no way to eradicate or detect it other than removing the batteryâ€, said Miller. He plans to publicly disclose the flaw, and provide a fix at the Black Hat security conference in August. An employee of security firm Accuvant, Miller will most likely provide the fix to Apple first, so that the Cupertino company is able to patch the vulnerability before it’s too late. Source Battery bang bang, Mac-Book BOOM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic322 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 That is awesome. To hell with Macs and their horrible uselessness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McJobless Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MAC GENOCIDE! Where'd you find this? EDIT: WAS ON PSP, THAT LINE DIDN'T SHOW UP... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acmex Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 OK, this begs the question why do the batteries even have modifiable firmware in the first place? Why would a battery even have a default password? A battery is a pretty simple thing. Positive power is applied, it should open the charge gate. No power applied and power demanded? Give it. Temperature too high, warning on an IRQ, and if it keeps going up, shut down, same thing that just about every other processor does. Simple as that. I could use this to make a point about apple, but this is just...wow. But hey, Mac's don't have viruses, so they're safe, right? Yeah, I'm aware that chances are my own laptop probably has some kind of firmware. Why, I don't know, but I can only pray that HP was smart enough to change whatever password that has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McJobless Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 OK, this begs the question why do the batteries even have modifiable firmware in the first place? Probably relates to how the BIOS uses power-saving options or something of the like...it does seem kind of stupid though. Computers these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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