Advisory ID: SYSS-2022-017
Product: Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Verbatim
Affected Version(s): #53650
Tested Version(s): #53650
Vulnerability Type: Insufficient Verification of Data
Authenticity (CWE-345)
Risk Level: Low
Solution Status: Open
Manufacturer Notification: 2022-02-03
Solution Date: -
Public Disclosure: 2022-06-08
CVE Reference: CVE-2022-28385
Author of Advisory: Matthias Deeg (SySS GmbH)

Overview:

The Verbatim Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive is a USB drive with  
AES 256-bit hardware encryption and a built-in fingerprint sensor for  
unlocking the device with previously registered fingerprints.

The manufacturer describes the product as follows:

"The AES 256-bit Hardware Encryption seamlessly encrypts all data on the  
drive in real-time. The drive is compliant with GDPR requirements as  
100% of the drive is securely encrypted. The built-in fingerprint  
recognition system allows access for up to eight authorised users and  
one administrator who can access the device via a password. The hard  
drive does not store passwords in the computer or system's volatile  
memory making it far more secure than software encryption."[1]

Due to missing integrity checks, an attacker can manipulate the content  
of the emulated CD-ROM drive containing the Windows and macOS client  
software.

Vulnerability Details:

When analyzing the Verbatim Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive,
Matthias Deeg found out that the content of the emulated CD-ROM drive
containing the Windows and macOS client software can be manipulated.

The content of this emulated CD-ROM drive is stored as ISO-9660 image
in the “hidden” sectors of the USB drive that can only be accessed
using special IOCTL commands, or when installing the drive in an
external disk enclosure.

The following output exemplarily shows the content of the ISO-9660
file system:

mount hidden_sectors.bin /mnt/

lsd -laR /mnt/

dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  .
drwxr-xr-x root root 4.0 KB Fri Jan 7 16:39:47 2022  …
.r-xr-xr-x root root 70 B Wed Aug 14 09:20:40 2019  Autorun.inf
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  MAC
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  Windows

/mnt/MAC:
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  .
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  …
.r-xr-xr-x root root 13 KB Fri Aug 9 09:03:24 2019  setup
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  Source

/mnt/MAC/Source:
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  .
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  …
.r-xr-xr-x root root 5.9 MB Mon Jul 22 06:22:24 2019  gtk_dylib.tar
.r-xr-xr-x root root 1.0 MB Wed Aug 14 06:25:10 2019  VERBATIM_B0_V1.1.tar

/mnt/Windows:
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  .
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  …
.r-xr-xr-x root root 5.6 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  English.txt
.r-xr-xr-x root root 6.6 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  French.txt
.r-xr-xr-x root root 6.2 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  German.txt
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  Ico
.r-xr-xr-x root root 6.2 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  Italian.txt
.r-xr-xr-x root root 512 B Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  license.bin
.r-xr-xr-x root root 160 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  odbccp32.dll
.r-xr-xr-x root root 7.1 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  Spanish.txt
.r-xr-xr-x root root 4.9 MB Wed Aug 14 09:12:49 2019  VerbatimSecure.exe

/mnt/Windows/Ico:
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  .
dr-xr-xr-x root root 2.0 KB Wed Aug 14 10:28:51 2019  …
.r-xr-xr-x root root 34 KB Fri Aug 9 10:47:26 2019  Verbatim.ico

By manipulating this ISO-9660 image or replacing it with another one, an
attacker is able to store malicious software on the emulated CD-ROM
drive which then may get executed by an unsuspecting victim when using
the device.

For example, an attacker with temporary physical access during the
supply could program a modified ISO-9660 image on the Verbatim
Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive, which always uses an attacker-
controlled password for unlocking the device.

If, later on, the attacker gains access to the used USB drive, he can
simply decrypt all contained user data.

Storing other arbitrary, malicious software is also possible.

Proof of Concept (PoC):

SySS could successfully modify the content of the ISO-9660 image  
containing the Windows and macOS software for unlocking and managing the  
Verbatim Fingerprint Secure Portalbe Hard Drive.

Solution:

SySS GmbH is not aware of a solution for the described security issue.

Disclosure Timeline:

2022-02-03: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer  
2022-02-11: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer again  
2022-03-07: Vulnerability reported to manufacturer again  
2022-06-08: Public release of security advisory

References:

[1] Product website for Verbatim Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive

https://www.verbatim-europe.co.uk/en/prod/fingerprint-secure-portable-hard-drive-1tb-53650/
[2] SySS Security Advisory SYSS-2022-017

https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Publikationen/Advisories/SYSS-2022-017.txt
[3] SySS GmbH, SySS Responsible Disclosure Policy
https://www.syss.de/en/responsible-disclosure-policy

Credits:

This security vulnerability was found by Matthias Deeg of SySS GmbH.

E-Mail: matthias.deeg (at) syss.de  
Public Key:   
https://www.syss.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Materialien/PGPKeys/Matthias_Deeg.asc  
Key fingerprint = D1F0 A035 F06C E675 CDB9 0514 D9A4 BF6A 34AD 4DAB

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this security advisory is provided “as is”
and without warranty of any kind. Details of this security advisory may
be updated in order to provide as accurate information as possible. The
latest version of this security advisory is available on the SySS website.

Copyright:

Creative Commons - Attribution (by) - Version 3.0  
URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en