The Research Blog

  • 3 Apr 2013

HackFu Venue - Clue 1

The first clue for HackFu's venue location references the famous "Remember, remember" line, specifically mentioning "the Vth". This cryptic hint is part of a series of clues designed to guide participants in discovering the event's location. The first clue was released as part of a multi-week puzzle to reveal the HackFu venue.

  • 28 Mar 2013

Announcing Mercury v2.2

Mercury v2.2, an Android Security Assessment Framework, introduces enhanced auto-completion features for command suggestions. The update maintains separate command histories for different contexts and improves ContentProvider interaction stability. A vulnerable Android app called Sieve is released to help security practitioners practice using the framework.

  • 11 Mar 2013

BSides Challenge

MWR Labs hosted a cybersecurity challenge focused on analyzing the "Evil Planner" Android application. The challenge invited participants to find vulnerabilities that would allow BigCorp to extract encrypted data from a potentially malicious employee's device. Multiple prizes were offered for discovering and exploiting application security weaknesses.

Pwn2Own at CanSecWest 2013

MWR Labs demonstrated a full sandbox bypass exploit against Google Chrome at Pwn2Own 2013. The exploit leveraged vulnerabilities to gain code execution in the renderer process and bypass ASLR and DEP protection mechanisms. Memory address leakage techniques were used to execute arbitrary commands outside the browser sandbox.

  • 14 Feb 2013

2013 Summer Internship Positions

MWR is recruiting paid summer internship positions in Basingstoke for students and security enthusiasts. Interns will work on personal research projects and gain hands-on experience in information security consultancy. The internship offers opportunities to work with a research team and potentially secure a junior position after completion.

  • 7 Feb 2013

Announcing Mercury v2.1

Mercury v2.1, an Android security assessment framework, introduces three key improvements. Modules can now be installed directly from an online repository. Connections between the Mercury console and device can be secured with SSL and optional password protection. Performance optimizations have been made to the Mercury Agent to improve efficiency and resource management.

  • 14 Dec 2012

What's New in Mercury v2?

Mercury v2.0 introduces a completely rewritten architecture with modular reflection-based functionality. Infrastructure Mode enables remote device connectivity across firewalls and NAT. The user interface has been streamlined to provide faster, more direct access to Mercury's capabilities.

SAP Slapping (DeepSec)

Dave Hartley's DeepSec presentation "SAP Slapping" explored vulnerabilities in SAP systems. The talk provided an overview of common misconfigurations and security weaknesses in enterprise software. Metasploit modules were demonstrated to highlight potential security risks in SAP infrastructure.

Mobile Pwn2Own at EuSecWest 2012

MWR Labs demonstrated a critical Android vulnerability at EuSecWest 2012 targeting a Samsung Galaxy S3 running Android 4.0.4. The exploit used NFC to upload a malicious file, enabling code execution and privilege escalation. Through multiple vulnerabilities, the team could exfiltrate user data and compromise the device's security by bypassing Android's exploit mitigation features.

SAP Smashing (Internet Windows)

SAProuter is a SAP network proxy that can route TCP connections through firewalls. A proof-of-concept technique was developed to establish native connections through SAProuter. The method allows routing network connections and was demonstrated by integrating with Metasploit to access systems behind the proxy.

Security Testing 4G (LTE) Networks

This presentation explores security testing methodologies for 4G (LTE) networks. The shift to IP-based communications in LTE networks introduces potential new security risks. The talk aims to provide insights into network security assessment and potential vulnerabilities in LTE deployments.

  • 7 Sep 2012

Mercury v1.1 is Released

Mercury v1.1 is an Android security testing framework with enhanced compatibility for newer Android versions. The release introduces a Reflection Interface for dynamic feature addition and includes new modules for comprehensive security scanning of Android devices and applications. Key improvements enable security professionals to more efficiently analyze potential vulnerabilities in Android systems.