To put this problem in context, I have a touch monitor screen whose firmware pro

Question

To put this problem in context, I have a touch monitor screen whose firmware program is protected by a password.

The firmware program is downloaded over RS232 via a Windows utility program provided by the manufacturer of the touch screen.

The problem is, upon completing the download, the utility program asks for a 6-character alphanumeric password, and I have no idea what it is. The company I bought the screen from has closed down since, so there's nowhere I can get hold of the password.

Since it's an alphanumeric password, (2*26+10)^6 = 56,800,235,584, my questions are:

1. How easy is it to crack the password?
2. What are the possible ways of cracking it?
3. How would you attempt to crack it? (ex. robot program that will try to enter all possible passwords on human's behalf, etc.) What software tools would you use?

Explanation / Answer

You can easily inject characters as if typed either via USB tools or code. Depending on the latency of trying a code and assuming no lock-outs it may not take too long to iterate through every possibility.

A better option may be to attach a debugger, enter any code and step through until you see the check of the input string. Change the logic of the result and then let execution continue - depending on the language and hardware this may be straightforward or painful.

I'm assuming you've tried Google hacking it and user forums in-case it's a widely known default...

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.