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Inception, a FireWire physical memory manipulation and hacking tool

18 pointsby jmgrosenover 11 years ago

1 comment

milesover 11 years ago
For Mac users, setting an Open Firmware&#x2F;EFI password[1] will prevent this exploit from working. On newer models, OF&#x2F;EFI passwords can no longer be reset by swapping out RAM modules[2], though Apple and authorized service providers apparently have a tool to reset them[3].<p>Of course, if the machine had to be rebooted or turned off as part of the OF&#x2F;EFI password reset, the sought-after encryption keys would be lost anyway (barring a cold boot attack[4]).<p>[1] <a href="http://www.macinstruct.com/node/507" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.macinstruct.com&#x2F;node&#x2F;507</a><p>[2] <a href="http://tinyapps.org/blog/mac/200605110700_open_firmware_password_hack.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;tinyapps.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;mac&#x2F;200605110700_open_firmware_pass...</a><p>[3] <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3554?viewlocale=en_US&amp;locale=en_US" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;kb&#x2F;TS3554?viewlocale=en_US&amp;locale=e...</a><p>[4] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_boot_attack" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Cold_boot_attack</a><p>EDIT: The Inception page links to a method for disabling firewire DMA without a firmware password: <a href="http://ilostmynotes.blogspot.com/2012/01/os-x-open-firmware-settings-use-nvram.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ilostmynotes.blogspot.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;01&#x2F;os-x-open-firmware-...</a>