Using a Cable Modem? You're NOT Safe!

[kyonides]

Using a Cable Modem? You're NOT Safe!

 

https://www.linuxexperten.com/news/milli...vulnerable

That link will take you to an article briefly discussing how Broadcom chips can be vulnerated by hackers!

https://www.zdnet.com/article/hundreds-o...erability/
This second article seems to be its source and expands on what hackers can exploit there...

The vulnerability, codenamed Cable Haunt, was discovered by four Danish security researchers and is believed to impact an estimated 200 million cable modems in Europe alone, the research team said today.

Using Cable Haunt via some malicious website, an attacker could:

• Change default DNS server
  
• Conduct remote man-in-the-middle attacks
  
• Hot-swap code or even the entire firmware
  
• Upload, flash, and upgrade firmware silently
  
• Disable ISP firmware upgrade
  
• Change every config file and settings
  
• Get and Set SNMP OID values
  
• Change all associated MAC Addresses
  
• Change serial numbers
  
• Be exploited in botnet
  

The Broadcom component is often used by internet service providers (ISPs) in debugging connection quality. This means that either onsite or online technical support provided by some stranger or dubious cable company employee could exploit the vulnerability... But they mentioned that it is supposed to be available only if you get access to a local network at your office or home. Of course once they dropped their bombs in your PC... you're lost...

All in all, it's clever research, but your cable modem will most likely get hacked because you forgot to change its default password or is vulnerable to other security flaws that are directly exploitable from the internet because you forgot to update its firmware.

Keep that in mind!