Dell Will Remove Dangerous Certificate Of Computers

Computer manufacturer Dell will begin today with the removal of a certificate that allows users to be attacked, as the company has announced. Since August this year, laptops and desktops from Dell comes with a certificate that contains the private key.

Attackers can use this key to sign malware for example, so it looks like that comes from Dell, and are also man-in-the-middle attacks on HTTPS sites possible. According to Dell, the certificate is no malware or adware. It was deliberately placed on systems to help customers. Through the certificate Dell's help desk can identify the service tag of the system and quickly identify the computer model, operating system and other components.

The computer manufacturer states in a blog posting that the certificate inadvertently introduces vulnerabilities. Something that Dell makes excuses for that. The company now has instructions (docx) put online how the certificate can be removed in question, and will also release an update starting today to remove the certificate. Also, all new systems will be delivered without a certificate. In the blog posting thanked Dell also researchers Hanno Böck, Joe Nord and Kevin Hicks who published about the security issue. Dell customers who want to know whether they are vulnerable to these via this website testing.

Update

"The security and privacy of our customers are of utmost importance to Dell. The recent situation relates to an" on-the-box "support certificate is intended to provide customers a better, faster and simpler support experience. Until Dells regrets the license shall carry an unintended security vulnerabilities along with it. To solve this problem we will provide our customers with instructions to remove this certificate permanently from their systems, "

"We go to the instructions via email on our support website and communicate via our technical support, we go the Certificate of all remove Dell systems that need to be made. Please note:. Business customer an image of their own Managing this issue does not affect systems. Dell does not install any adware or malware. The certificate will not reinstall itself if it is properly disposed of according to the process recommended by Dell. "

It also has CERT Coordination Center (CERT / CC) at Carnegie Mellon University, a warning issued to the certificate. It is also recommended to remove the certificate.

PrivDog: Only 57,000 Users At Risk

Adware PrivDog developer has released a security update after there was a vulnerability in the software detects allowing users targeted by Man-in-the-middle attack could be. In total, this "only" 57,000 users have run risk, says the developer. However, this is not the PrivDog software that comes with the programs of security provider and Certificate Authority Comodo. PrivDog makes adware that SSL connections are intercepted and software advertisements of "reliable partners" can inject.

Researchers discovered that PrivDog install a root certificate and thus intercepted each SSL certificate of websites using a self-signed certificate, even when it comes to SSL certificates that are not valid. As a result, the browser will accept HTTPS each certificate that is, whether by a Certificate Authority (CA) is signed or not. For example, users of public Wi-Fi networks could thus be the victim of a Man-in-the-middle attack. The vulnerability is present in versions 3.0.96.0 and 3.0.97.0 PrivDog.

These versions intercept SSL traffic and were downloaded from the website of PrivDog. Contrary to what was thought yesterday is Comodo Internet Security with an earlier version of PrivDog bundled working with a browser extension and thus is not directly vulnerable to this threat. That says researcher Hanno Boeck in addition to his research. PrivDog also confirms that the PrivDogplug-in that comes with the Comodo Browsers problem has not.

Globally, more than 57,000 people have downloaded the vulnerable PrivDog versions. According adware developer made ​​sure that the problem with some sites that use a self-signed certificate no certificate warning was given. However, the encryption was offered to the end user would remain intact, says PrivDog. Tonight there is rolled out an automatic update that fixes the problem by users.

Privdog Software Worse Than Superfish Adware

After computer manufacturer Lenovo appears to combine security provider Comodo adware with its own software SSL traffic intercepted, only the impact is much greater than with Lenovo's Superfish was. That says researcher Hanno Bock . Comodo is known software like Comodo Internet Security and Comodo Dragon Browser. With some of the programs PrivDog-adware is included.

Like Superfish intercepted PrivDog HTTPS traffic to inject ads from "reliable partners". Late last year, the ability to filter HTTPS traffic was already on the forum Comodo discussed . The software is after Superfish scandal now in the spotlight. A user decided because Superfish a test page to do, which warns users if their HTTPS connection is manipulated. Although the user is not used Superfish he got a warning. Then this user reported on Hacker News that the possible was the PrivDog-adware.

PrivDog not have the same vulnerability as Superfish, using a weak certificate and a weak password to protect the private key of the certificate, but one which is many times as possible according to Bock. Although Superfish same certificate and key used for all installations, PrivDog makes for each installation a separate key and certificate. The biggest problem is that each certificate PrivDog intercepted and replaced by a self-signed certificate.

It is also about certificates that were not valid in the first place. As a result, the browser will accept HTTPS each certificate that is, whether by a Certificate Authority (CA) is signed or not. "We are still trying to find out the details, but it looks bad," Bock says. The researcher also finds it strange that Comodo, which is itself a CA bundle adware with their own software. "If the CA would be their job to protect HTTPS, not break," the researcher concludes.

Meanwhile warns also the CERT Coordination Center (CERT / CC) at Carnegie Mellon University for PrivDog. An attacker could according to the CERT / CC HTTPS sites spoof and intercept HTTPS traffic without users see a certificate warning.Users will also be advised to remove PrivDog. This would also be the root certificate in question to be removed.

US-CERT writes: "Adtrustmedia PrivDog is promoted by the Comodo Group, which is an organization that offers SSL certificates and authentication solutions." A variant of PrivDog that is not affected by this issue is shipped with products produced by Comodo (see below). This makes this case especially interesting because Comodo itself is a certificate authority (they had issues before). As ACLU technologist Christopher Soghoian points out on Twitter the founder of PrivDog is the CEO of Comodo. (See this blog post.)

Update/Clarification: The dangerous TLS interception behaviour is part of the latest version of PrivDog 3.0.96.0, which can be downloaded from the PrivDog webpage. Comodo Internet Security bundles an earlier version of PrivDog that works with a browser extension, so it is not directly vulnerable to this threat. According to online sources PrivDog 3.0.96.0 was released in December 2014 and changed the TLS interception technology.

Update 2: Privdog published an Advisory.