The open-source SecureDrop Workstation has undergone a security makeover after a third-party security audit flagged multiple problems, including a high-risk bug that could allow an attacker to plant files on target machines.
The SecureDrop Workstation audit, conducted by Trail of Bits and financed by the New York Times, warned that the high-risk directory traversal bug could be leveraged for code execution attacks.
“The high severity finding details case where a malicious SecureDrop server could create files in arbitrary paths in the sd-app VM, which may allow for a code execution,” according to the audit report [PDF].
“When the SecureDrop Workstation client downloads a file, it stores it in a location derived from the filename returned by the server. However, since this location is not sanitized properly in all cases, an attacker who controls responses from the server can make the client save files in arbitrary paths on the filesystem. An attacker can use this vulnerability to plant files that potentially enable further vulnerabilities.”
The Trail of Bits code auditors found two cases when a malicious SecureDrop server could plant files.
Overall, the security assessment gave SecureDrop workstation a positive security bill of health.
“We were unable to achieve a direct compromise of the Workstation from the position of an Internet-based attacker during our engagement,” Trail of Bits said, but made it clear this doesn’t imply that such a compromise exists or that SecureDrop Workstation is free of bugs.
SecureDrop Workstation is currently managed by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Based on Qubes OS, the platform enables secure and encrypted communications between news or ..
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