April 23, 2024 at 06:57AM
Microsoft’s PlayReady technology faces vulnerabilities, allowing rogue subscribers to download protected content from streaming services. AG Security Research’s founder, Adam Gowdiak, discovered these flaws over a nine-month period and has released tools to exploit them. While Microsoft is investigating, Gowdiak is reluctant to fully disclose his findings without a commercial agreement. Other streaming platforms are also alerted.
From the meeting notes, here are the key takeaways:
1. AG Security Research, led by Adam Gowdiak, identified vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s PlayReady content protection technology, allowing unauthorized access to protected content from streaming services such as Canal+, Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Showtime.
2. The vulnerabilities exposed a time window during which content keys have a XORed form, allowing exploitation to obtain plaintext content keys, which can then be used to decrypt content from popular streaming services.
3. Microsoft claimed that the reported issues concern settings controlled by service providers and third-party client security, not a vulnerability in a Microsoft service or client.
4. Gowdiak has publicly disclosed the keys obtained during testing on the Security Explorations website to verify the impact of the research by streaming services.
5. Although the exploit requires access to the Windows OS and a subscription to the affected streaming platform, it could be highly valuable to services offering pirated media content.
6. While Microsoft has shown interest in the findings and mentioned a potential bug bounty reward, Gowdiak is hesitant to disclose technical details and is willing to share information with the vendor only through a commercial agreement due to the potential value of the IP/know-how and the need to protect it.
7. As part of the research project, Gowdiak has developed tools including a Warbird reverse engineering toolkit and a sniffer for extracting content keys from the Protected Media Path (PMP) process.
8. Amazon Prime Video acknowledged the research claims and reported them to Microsoft for investigation, but stated there is currently no evidence of misuse of the described technique against their platform.
These takeaways provide a comprehensive understanding of the vulnerabilities identified in Microsoft’s PlayReady technology and the potential impact on streaming services.