Re:Intel and ME, and why we should get rid of ME
by Tiksi on Saturday June 11, 2016 @06:40PM
(#11885714)
I think we're talking about two different things. BMCs run separately from the rest of the system and are active even when the machine is halted. They provide remote mouse/keyboard/monitor, power control, remote device mounting, bios settings, hardware sensors and monitoring, etc. These have been in servers for ages, do the same thing as IME, and are way less secure. None of it has any relevance to software updaters or software at all really since a lot of these boxes are shipped without an OS or even hard drives.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Intel and ME, and why we should get rid of ME
by dlmetcalf on Sunday June 12, 2016 @05:33AM
(#11887377)
I followed what you meant and understand baseband management controllers are more similar to IME in terms of risk profile. They're not (generally?) on-chip though, so it's at least up to individual OEMs, and purchasers have slightly more options (if slim). Agree it's not widely enough recognised either though. There's some coverage at least:
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/the_eavesdrop... https://isc.sans.edu/diary/IPMI%3A+Hacking+servers+that+are+... http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/08/remote-admin-tool-im... https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/woot13/woot13... https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2013/... https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/the_eavesdrop... http://www.websecuritywatch.com/authentication-bypass-vulner... http://fish2.com/ipmi/itrain.pdf