An issue was discovered in certain Verbatim drives through 2022-03-31. Due to the use of an insecure encryption AES mode (Electronic Codebook, aka ECB), an attacker may be able to extract information even from encrypted data, for example by observing repeating byte patterns. The firmware of the USB-to-SATA bridge controller INIC-3637EN uses AES-256 with the ECB mode. This operation mode of block ciphers (e.g., AES) always encrypts identical plaintext data, in this case blocks of 16 bytes, to identical ciphertext data. For some data, for instance bitmap images, the lack of the cryptographic property called diffusion, within ECB, can leak sensitive information even in encrypted data. Thus, the use of the ECB operation mode can put the confidentiality of specific information at risk, even in an encrypted form. This affects Keypad Secure USB 3.2 Gen 1 Drive Part Number #49428, Store n Go Secure Portable HDD GD25LK01-3637-C VER4.0, Executive Fingerprint Secure SSD GDMSFE01-INI3637-C VER1.1, and Fingerprint Secure Portable Hard Drive Part Number #53650.
The product uses a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm or protocol.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keypad_secure_usb_3.2_gen_1_firmware | Verbatim | * | 2022-03-31 (including) |
Cryptographic algorithms are the methods by which data is scrambled to prevent observation or influence by unauthorized actors. Insecure cryptography can be exploited to expose sensitive information, modify data in unexpected ways, spoof identities of other users or devices, or other impacts. It is very difficult to produce a secure algorithm, and even high-profile algorithms by accomplished cryptographic experts have been broken. Well-known techniques exist to break or weaken various kinds of cryptography. Accordingly, there are a small number of well-understood and heavily studied algorithms that should be used by most products. Using a non-standard or known-insecure algorithm is dangerous because a determined adversary may be able to break the algorithm and compromise whatever data has been protected. Since the state of cryptography advances so rapidly, it is common for an algorithm to be considered “unsafe” even if it was once thought to be strong. This can happen when new attacks are discovered, or if computing power increases so much that the cryptographic algorithm no longer provides the amount of protection that was originally thought. For a number of reasons, this weakness is even more challenging to manage with hardware deployment of cryptographic algorithms as opposed to software implementation. First, if a flaw is discovered with hardware-implemented cryptography, the flaw cannot be fixed in most cases without a recall of the product, because hardware is not easily replaceable like software. Second, because the hardware product is expected to work for years, the adversary’s computing power will only increase over time.