Summary
This is the most interesting challenge in CodeGate 2010 IMHO. The binary is a VM which loads the ‘codefile’ and execute it. The VM codefile is protected from being tampered with a TEA based hash algorithm. By exploiting the weakness of hash algorithm (similar to Xbox hack) together with a bug inside VM, we could change the execution flow of VM code to get back the secret key content.
Analysis
Challenge information
credentials: ssh hugh@ctf4.codegate.org -p 9474 password=takeitaway
Exploit /home/hugh/yboy to read secret.key
There are yboy, codefile and secret.key files in the home directory of hugh (you can download these files here if you want to try it by yourself)
-rw-r–r– 1 codegate codegate 1136 2010-03-12 14:45 codefile
-r——– 1 daryl daryl 140 2010-03-12 15:27 secret.key
-rwsr-xr-x 1 daryl root 22307 2010-03-12 16:07 yboy
a. Reverse Engineering yboy
yboy basically does the following things
- load VM codes from the codefile into memory (code[])
- load content of secret.key into memory (data[])
- check for the integrity of codefile using TEA based hash algorithm against a hard-coded hash value. Exit if the hash not matched
- parse/decode loaded VM codes and execute it accordingly
For the VM code inside codefile
- ask user to input password
- compare the input with flag inside secret.key
- if correct, print out the flag
- otherwise, print out access denied error and exit
b. Decompiler for codefile
Since yboy load VM code from codefile and execute it, I wrote a decompiler for it
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
unsigned char *decode[32] = {
"halt", "push", "pop", "add", "sub", "or", "xor", "nor", "shl",
"shr", "not", "nop", "branch", "jumpreg", "callreg", "load",
"store", "halt", "inputchar", "outputchar", "set_imm", "reload",
"rrandom", "nop", "nop", "nop", "nop", "nop", "nop", "nop", "nop",
"nop",
};
unsigned long registers[64];
unsigned long code[32768];
unsigned int PC;
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
unsigned int ins;
unsigned char reg;
unsigned char imm1, imm2;
unsigned char opcode;
unsigned int codesize;
int set_imm = 1;
FILE *f;
f = fopen(argv[1], "r");
codesize = fread(code, 1, sizeof(code), f);
fclose(f);
//check_code();
PC = 0;
while (PC < (codesize) / 4) {
set_imm = 1;
ins = code[PC];
opcode = (ins >> 24); //& 0x1f;
reg = (ins >> 16) & 0xFF;
imm1 = (ins >> 8) & 0xFF;
imm2 = (unsigned char) ins;
// set_imm
if (opcode == 20) {
printf("%04x: tr%d = %s %x, %x", PC, reg,
decode[opcode & 0x1f], imm1, imm2);
if (imm2 && !imm1)
printf("t; %c", imm2);
else if (imm1)
printf("t; %04x", imm2 + (imm1 << 8));
printf("n");
PC++;
continue;
}
reg = (ins >> 16) & 0xBF;
imm1 = (ins >> 8) & 0xBF;
imm2 = ins & 0xBF;
printf("%04x: tr%d = %s r%d, r%d", PC, reg,
decode[opcode & 0x1f], imm1, imm2);
if (opcode == 12) // comment for branch
printf("t; if (r%d) goto r%dn", imm1, imm2);
else
printf("n");
PC++;
}
return 0;
}
Here is the output of the decompiler (click to open)
rd@jps(~/working/ctf/codegate2010/2/)$ ./yboy-decompile codefile 0000: r1 = set_imm 0, 45 ; E 0001: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0002: r1 = set_imm 0, 6e ; n 0003: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0004: r1 = set_imm 0, 74 ; t 0005: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0006: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0007: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0008: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 0009: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 000a: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 000b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 000c: r1 = set_imm 0, 70 ; p 000d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 000e: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 000f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0010: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 0011: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0012: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 0013: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0014: r1 = set_imm 0, 77 ; w 0015: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0016: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 0017: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0018: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 0019: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 001a: r1 = set_imm 0, 64 ; d 001b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 001c: r1 = set_imm 0, 3e ; > 001d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 001e: r1 = set_imm 0, 3e ; > 001f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0020: r60 = set_imm 0, ff ; � 0021: r61 = set_imm 0, 1 ; 0022: r4 = set_imm 5, 39 ; 0539 0023: r3 = inputchar r0, r0 0024: r50 = set_imm 0, a ; 0025: r0 = store r4, r3 0026: r0 = nop r0, r0 0027: r10 = sub r3, r50 0028: r10 = not r10, r0 0029: r11 = set_imm 0, 2f ; / 002a: r0 = branch r10, r11 ; if (r10) goto r11 002b: r4 = add r61, r4 002c: r10 = sub r60, r3 002d: r11 = set_imm 0, 23 ; # 002e: r0 = branch r10, r11 ; if (r10) goto r11 002f: r19 = set_imm 5, 39 ; 0539 0030: r20 = set_imm 0, 0 0031: r21 = set_imm 0, 23 ; # 0032: r21 = sub r21, r20 0033: r21 = not r21, r0 0034: r22 = set_imm 0, 5e ; ^ 0035: r0 = branch r21, r22 ; if (r21) goto r22 0036: r21 = load r20, r0 0037: r25 = add r19, r20 0038: r0 = nop r0, r0 0039: r26 = load r25, r0 003a: r26 = sub r21, r26 003b: r22 = set_imm 0, 41 ; A 003c: r0 = branch r26, r22 ; if (r26) goto r22 003d: r23 = set_imm 0, 1 ; 003e: r20 = add r20, r23 003f: r22 = set_imm 0, 31 ; 1 0040: r0 = branch r22, r22 ; if (r22) goto r22 0041: r1 = set_imm 0, 41 ; A 0042: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0043: r1 = set_imm 0, 63 ; c 0044: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0045: r1 = set_imm 0, 63 ; c 0046: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0047: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0048: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0049: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 004a: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 004b: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 004c: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 004d: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 004e: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 004f: r1 = set_imm 0, 44 ; D 0050: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0051: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0052: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0053: r1 = set_imm 0, 6e ; n 0054: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0055: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 0056: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0057: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0058: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0059: r1 = set_imm 0, 64 ; d 005a: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 005b: r1 = set_imm 0, a ; 005c: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 005d: r0 = halt r0, r0 005e: r1 = set_imm 0, 47 ; G 005f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0060: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 0061: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0062: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0063: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0064: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0065: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0066: r1 = set_imm 0, 74 ; t 0067: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0068: r1 = set_imm 0, 7a ; z 0069: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 006a: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 006b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 006c: r1 = set_imm 0, 68 ; h 006d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 006e: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 006f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0070: r1 = set_imm 0, 63 ; c 0071: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0072: r1 = set_imm 0, 6b ; k 0073: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0074: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0075: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0076: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 0077: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0078: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 0079: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 007a: r1 = set_imm 0, 2e ; . 007b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 007c: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 007d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 007e: r1 = set_imm 0, 4b ; K 007f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0080: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0081: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0082: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0083: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0084: r1 = set_imm 0, 70 ; p 0085: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0086: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 0087: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0088: r1 = set_imm 0, 75 ; u 0089: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 008a: r1 = set_imm 0, 70 ; p 008b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 008c: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 008d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 008e: r1 = set_imm 0, 74 ; t 008f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0090: r1 = set_imm 0, 68 ; h 0091: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0092: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 0093: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0094: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 0095: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0096: r1 = set_imm 0, 67 ; g 0097: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0098: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 0099: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 009a: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 009b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 009c: r1 = set_imm 0, 64 ; d 009d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 009e: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 009f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00a0: r1 = set_imm 0, 77 ; w 00a1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00a2: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 00a3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00a4: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 00a5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00a6: r1 = set_imm 0, 6b ; k 00a7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00a8: r1 = set_imm 0, 2e ; . 00a9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00aa: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 00ab: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ac: r1 = set_imm 0, 53 ; S 00ad: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ae: r1 = set_imm 0, 74 ; t 00af: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00b0: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 00b1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00b2: r1 = set_imm 0, 79 ; y 00b3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00b4: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 00b5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00b6: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 00b7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00b8: r1 = set_imm 0, 68 ; h 00b9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ba: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 00bb: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00bc: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 00bd: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00be: r1 = set_imm 0, 70 ; p 00bf: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00c0: r1 = set_imm 0, 2e ; . 00c1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00c2: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 00c3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00c4: r1 = set_imm 0, 44 ; D 00c5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00c6: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 00c7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00c8: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 00c9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ca: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 00cb: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00cc: r1 = set_imm 0, 62 ; b 00cd: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ce: r1 = set_imm 0, 65 ; e 00cf: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00d0: r1 = set_imm 0, 79 ; y 00d1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00d2: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 00d3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00d4: r1 = set_imm 0, 6d ; m 00d5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00d6: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 00d7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00d8: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 00d9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00da: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 00db: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00dc: r1 = set_imm 0, 6e ; n 00dd: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00de: r1 = set_imm 0, 66 ; f 00df: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00e0: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 00e1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00e2: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 00e3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00e4: r1 = set_imm 0, 6d ; m 00e5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00e6: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 00e7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00e8: r1 = set_imm 0, 74 ; t 00e9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ea: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 00ec: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 00ed: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00ee: r1 = set_imm 0, 6e ; n 00ef: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00f0: r1 = set_imm 0, 2e ; . 00f1: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00f2: r1 = set_imm 0, a ; 00f3: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00f4: r1 = set_imm 0, 59 ; Y 00f5: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00f6: r1 = set_imm 0, 6f ; o 00f7: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00f8: r1 = set_imm 0, 75 ; u 00f9: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00fa: r1 = set_imm 0, 72 ; r 00fb: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00fc: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 00fd: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 00fe: r1 = set_imm 0, 66 ; f 00ff: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0100: r1 = set_imm 0, 6c ; l 0101: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0102: r1 = set_imm 0, 61 ; a 0103: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0104: r1 = set_imm 0, 67 ; g 0105: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0106: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 0107: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0108: r1 = set_imm 0, 69 ; i 0109: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 010a: r1 = set_imm 0, 73 ; s 010b: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 010c: r1 = set_imm 0, 3a ; : 010d: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 010e: r1 = set_imm 0, 20 ; 010f: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0110: r29 = set_imm 0, 1 ; 0111: r30 = xor r30, r30 0112: r1 = load r30, r0 0113: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 0114: r30 = add r29, r30 0115: r31 = set_imm 0, 26 ; & 0116: r31 = sub r30, r31 0117: r32 = set_imm 1, 12 ; 0112 0118: r0 = branch r31, r32 ; if (r31) goto r32 0119: r1 = set_imm 0, a ; 011a: r0 = outputchar r1, r0 011b: r0 = halt r0, r0
Pseudo C code of the decompiled codefile
// data is an int array - int data[0x2000/4]
// the first 140 bytes of data store the content of "secret.key" file
printf("Enter password>>");
r4 = 1337;
while (!EOF) {
r3 = getc();
data[r4] = r3;
if (r3 == 'n') break;
r4++;
}
r19 = 1337;
r20 = 0;
while (1) {
if (r20 == 0x23) goto correctpass;
if (data[r20] != data[r19+r20]) goto wrongpass;
r20++;
}
wrongpass:
printf("Access Deniedn");
exit(0);
correctpass:
printf("Greetz hackers. Keep up the good work. Stay sharp. Disobey misinformation.n");
printf("Your flag is: ");
for(i=0; i<0x26; i++)
print("%c", data[i]);
printf("n");
c. Xbox’s TEA hash collision
From the decompiled VM code above, if we could modify the content of codefile, it would be possible to print out the flag inside secret.key stored at data[0]. However, the codefile is protected from being tampered with a hash algorithm.
int
check_code()
{
int result;
unsigned int v1;
unsigned int v2;
unsigned int i;
hash_block(0x99999999, 0xBBBBBBBB, 0x44444444, 0x55555555, code[0],
code[1], &v2, &v1);
for (i = 2; i <= 32766; i += 2)
hash_block(v2, v1, v2, v1, code[i], code[i + 1], (int *) &v2,
(int *) &v1);
if (v2 != 0x1EC0A9F0 || (result = v1, v1 != 0x9217F034)) {
puts("Tampering detected. Prepare for imminent arrest.");
exit(0);
}
return result;
}
Google the constant 0x61C88647 and searching around, I found that it’s a TEA based hash algorithm. Using TEA hash is bad and there is a weakness in the algorithm in which by flipping the 32nd and 64th bit of a 64 bits block, the hash value will remain the same. Xbox was hacked because of this one. (Actually I didn’t know about Xbox’s TEA bits flipping attack. I found this collision by writing a tool doing the brute force on bits flipping of 64 bits block to find the collision. Later, I realized that Yboy is Xbox with two bits flipped)
Now, the next problem is to find how codefile should be patched to print out the flag.
d. Branch instruction handing bug
The 32nd and 64th bit of a 64 bits block are MSB bits of the opcode field of two consequence instructions. Since the code only uses the least 05 bits in opcode for instruction decode, changing the MSB of the opcode won’t affect the instruction decode part. However, there is a problem with branch instruction handling code which will help us to modify the behavior of branch.
If we look at the VM parsing code, an instruction (4 byes) structure is as the following
[ opcode ] [ output register ] [ imm1 ] [ imm2 ]
opcode = (ins >> 24); //& 0x1f;
reg = (ins >> 16) & 0xFF;
imm1 = (ins >> 8) & 0xFF;
imm2 = (unsigned char) ins;
The least 05 bits of opcode are being used as an index to lookup for the corresponding function from the decode function table (decode[opcode & 0x1f])
Lets look deeper at the code handling ‘branch’ instruction:
int branch(int imm1, int imm2)
{
if (imm1)
PC = imm2;
else
PC++;
return 0;
}
Inside main()
As we can see, it only uses the least five bits of opcode* ((ins » 24) & 0x1f)* for decode while the full byte *(ins » 24) *is used for comparing later (opcode value for branch is oxC).
If we set the MSB of opcode, the opcode would become 0x8c. In this case, the branch() *function is still being called, however, the *(opcode == 0xC) check in main() will be false and PC will be increased by 1 unexpectedly.
e. Subvert the code flow to print out the flag
Look back at the decompiled VM code
0020: r60 = set_imm 0, ff ; r60 = 255 0021: r61 = set_imm 0, 1 ; r61 = 1 0022: r4 = set_imm 5, 39 ; r4 = 0x539 (1337) 0023: r3 = inputchar r0, r0 ; r3 = getc() 0024: r50 = set_imm 0, a ; r50 = 'n' 0025: r0 = store r4, r3 ; data[r4] = r3 0026: r0 = nop r0, r0 0027: r10 = sub r3, r50 ; r10 = r3 - 'n' 0028: r10 = not r10, r0 ; !r10 0029: r11 = set_imm 0, 2f ; r11 = 0x002f 002a: r0 = branch r10, r11 ; if (r3 == 'n') goto 002f 002b: r4 = add r61, r4 ; r4++ 002c: r10 = sub r60, r3 ; r10 = 255 - r3 002d: r11 = set_imm 0, 23 ; 0x0023 002e: r0 = branch r10, r11 ; if (r3 != EOF) goto 0023 002f: r19 = set_imm 5, 39 ; r19 = 0x539 (1337) 0030: r20 = set_imm 0, 0 ; r20 = 0 0031: r21 = set_imm 0, 23 ; r21 = 0x23 (35) 0032: r21 = sub r21, r20 ; r21 = r21 - r20 0033: r21 = not r21, r0 ; !r21 0034: r22 = set_imm 0, 5e ; 0x005e 0035: r0 = branch r21, r22 ; if (r20 == 35) goto 005e //goodpassword 0036: r21 = load r20, r0 ; r21 = data[r20] 0037: r25 = add r19, r20 ; r25 = 0x539 + r20 0038: r0 = nop r0, r0 0039: r26 = load r25, r0 ; r26 = data[0x539 + r20] 003a: r26 = sub r21, r26 ; r26 = r26 - r21 003b: r22 = set_imm 0, 41 ; 0x0041 003c: r0 = branch r26, r22 ; if (data[r20] != data[0x539+r20) goto 0041 //badpassword 003d: r23 = set_imm 0, 1 ; r23 = 1 003e: r20 = add r20, r23 ; r20++ 003f: r22 = set_imm 0, 31 ; 0x0032 0040: r0 = branch r22, r22 ; goto 0032 //loop
The code above read password from stdin, stores it inside data array starting at data[0x539] *then compares the input with the content of *secret.key stored at the beginning of data[0] (35 DWORDS = 140 bytes).
What if we modify the MSB bit of branch instruction at 002a?
//modify code[2a] from 0x0c000a0b to 0x8c000a0b
002a: r0 = branch r10, r11 ; if (r3 == ‘n’) goto 002f
When ‘n’ is read, the branch() instruction will set PC to the password check code at 002f (002f: r19 = set_imm 5, 39 ; r19 = 0x539). However, because the opcode now is 0x8c instead of 0x0c, PC will be also increased by 1 unexpectedly due to the bug at main loop code mentioned above. Hence, the PC will point to instruction at 0030 (0030: r20 = set_imm 0, 0 ; r20 = 0) instead of 002f.
Since the instruction at 002f is skipped, r19 register will be 0 (default value) instead of 0x539. The VM code becomes
//r19 register value is 0 while it's expected to be 0x539
r20 = 0;
while (1) {
if (r20 == 0x23) goto correctpass;
if (data[r20] != data[r19+r20]) goto wrongpass;
r20++;
}
It’s comparing identical data. Yboy Pwned!
Exploit
- Copy the codefile, edit it to set the 32nd and 64th bits at offset 0x2a
code[2a] 0x0c000a0b -> 0x8c000a0b
code[2b] 0x03043d04 -> 0x83043d04
- Run the yboy with the new codefile
- Press enter and get the flag
hugh@codegate-desktop:/tmp/rd$ ./yboy newcodefile
…
Enter password»
Greetz hackers. Keep up the good work. Stay sharp. Disobey misinformation.
Your flag is: TEA - Toiletpaper Esque Aspirations
References
Keywords: TEA, VM, Xbox, codegate 2010