Tarlogic detects a hidden feature in the mass-market ESP32 chip that could infect millions of IoT devices
www.tarlogic.com
Tarlogic presents research revealing undocumented commands in the ESP32 microchip, present in millions of smart devices with Bluetooth
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Tarlogic Security has detected a backdoor in the ESP32, a microcontroller that enables WiFi and Bluetooth connection and is present in millions of mass-market IoT devices. Exploitation of this backdoor would allow hostile actors to conduct impersonation attacks and permanently infect sensitive devices such as mobile phones, computers, smart locks or medical equipment by bypassing code audit controls.

    • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgEnglish
      0·
      22 hours ago

      That’s like saying “I want a list of all devices with ATmega328P.” Anyone can make a uniqurdevice with this chip as the processor, in fact I have. It’s a chip with an extremely low barrier of entry thanks to extensive documentation, lots of dev boards and libraries. Not as low as the 555 (lots of people’s first IC) but WAY lower than anything you’d traditionally consider a 32-bit CPU.

      Anyway, even if you obtained the list magically, it would be of little use. To be clear: this is not an exploit. The chip just has more instructions than previously thought – instructions that you write into your program when building an ESP32 device. This can make some programs a little faster or smaller but you still need to flash them onto the microcontroller – using physical access, OTA (if you set it up in the existing FW) or some exploit (in someone’s OTA implementation, perhaps).

        • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgEnglish
          0·
          21 hours ago

          No. I’m saying you cannot have a complete list because the chip is user friendly. Look at all the “ESP32 project” results in the search engine of your choice if you want an incomplete list. Unlike say an Intel processor, you don’t need a contract with the manufacturer to make a device with the chip so not even Espressif has a list of commercial products that ship with their chip.

          Anyway, there is no use of a list resulting from this news. Suppose I told you “LOOK! This device’s firmware was compiled before they knew the program might be .1% more efficient with this instruction discovered in 2025!” – would that really change how you feel about the device? Most software has way higher overhead that could be optimized away.

          However, lots of people will fail to realize that, again, this is not an exploit so I’ll enjoy lower ESP32 prices for future home automation projects.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            21 hours ago

            Dude, do I really need to pedantically qualify my question with “I would like a list of manufactured devices produced for sale with the chip already integrated, not hobbyist or ersatz devices in limited quantity? Nobody needs that, and a reasonable person would understand I’m not interested in what joe schmoe built in is garage.

            C’mon, it’s like you’re looking for an argument. No shit we can’t have a list of every device based on your criteria, but we can reasonably expect to know what manufactured large-run devices do have it, and I think that’s a reasonable take on my question.

    • embed_me@programming.devEnglish
      0·
      1 day ago

      The article is talking about the Espressif ESP32 micro controller (has Wi-Fi/Classic Bluetooth/BLE).

      I don’t know if the variants of this chip also have the same vulnerability (my guess is yes). As someone who works on this chip, I’m interested in more discourse on this matter.