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Wed, January 30, 2013

Universal Plug and Play Vulnerable to Remote Code Injection

By Adrian Lane

Rapid7 has announced that the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) service is vulnerable to remote code injection. Because this code is deployed in millions of devices – that’s the ‘Universal’ part – there are a freakishly large number of people vulnerable to this simple attack. From The H Security:

During an IP scan of all possible IPv4 addresses, Rapid7, the security firm that is known for the Metasploit attack framework, has discovered 40 to 50 million network devices that can potentially be compromised remotely with a single data packet. The company says that remote attackers can potentially inject code into these devices, and that this may, for example, enable them to gain unauthorised access to a user’s local network.

All kinds of network-enabled devices including routers, IP cameras, NAS devices, printers, TV sets and media servers are affected. They all have several things in common: they support the Universal Plug and Play network protocol, respond to UPnP requests from the internet, and use a vulnerable UPnP library to do so.

Rapid7 is offering users a free scanning tool to identify vulnerable devices, but the real question is “How can I protect myself?” The CERT Advisory advises users to block “untrusted hosts from access to port 1900/UDP”, but that’s provided they know how to do that, the devices are protected by a firewall, and disabling the port does not break legitimate apps. Honestly, not a lot to go on right now, so we will update this post if we come across more actionable advice.

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