A Malicious SIM Card Can Run Attacker Code Inside the Modems Behind Cellular IoT Devices
Researchers showed malicious SIM cards can issue RUN AT commands to execute code on Qualcomm modems, compromising Quectel-based cellular IoT devices like EV chargers.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham and Fuzzware found 9 of 26 tested devices accept SIM proactive commands, including six Qualcomm-based cellular modules, five of them Quectel. They achieved code execution on a commercial Autel EV charger via the Quectel EC25's atfwd_daemon unsafe format string, and demonstrated an irreversible 2G downgrade, modem power-off, and arbitrary file reads via a root TFTP daemon on a Quectel EG25-G. Attacks require a hostile SIM already in the slot or an interposer; no attacks have been reported in the wild. Qualcomm has built a hardened configuration disabling the interface by default and Quectel mitigated the file-access flaw; the paper was presented at USENIX WOOT.
Risky Bulletin: Ukraine's top prosecutor resigns amid scam call center scandal
Ukraine's top prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko resigned after NABU arrested a deputy for taking bribes protecting scam call centers running fake investment platforms.
Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau NABU arrested Serhiy Kropyva, Deputy Head of International Cooperation at the Prosecutor General's Office, alleging officials took monthly protection fees from a network of 100-500 scam call centers luring victims into fake investment platforms, with bribes reportedly growing from $700,000 to $3.5 million per month. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned on Monday, calling it a political decision, while Kropyva was fired with bail set at 120 million hryvnias ($2.7 million) and over 100 call centers shut down in the past month. The newsletter also briefly covers a cyberattack crippling more than 80 Luxembourg medical practices via payment vendor BMS Engineering, ShinyHunters' claimed theft of 200,000 Florida DMV driver records, a cyberattack on the American Meteor Society, and school closures in Springfield, Massachusetts.