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Episode #828 Quiz

REvil Vanishes!
Date: 2021-07-20 | Length: 1.75 hrs | Episode page at twit.tv

About this episode

Chrome patched an actively exploited V8 type confusion zero-day, while Firefox 90’s SmartBlock 2.0 selectively unblocks Facebook login scripts under Private Browsing. Apple’s iOS WiFi SSID parsing bug became zero-click drive-by RCE via unescaped printf-style sequences. Windows printing remained vulnerable by design, and Telegram’s MTProto flaws exposed message reordering.

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Question 1: According to the episode, what did Mozilla’s Firefox 90 SmartBlock 2.0 change about Facebook-based sign-ins while in Private Browsing or Strict Mode?

Question 1

According to the episode, what did Mozilla’s Firefox 90 SmartBlock 2.0 change about Facebook-based sign-ins while in Private Browsing or Strict Mode?

It replaced Facebook login flows with a locally generated Firefox identity token. It kept Facebook scripts blocked until the user clicked a login button, then unblocked only the needed login script. It disabled Private Browsing restrictions entirely whenever a site offered social login. It allowed all Facebook scripts to load by default whenever Private Browsing was enabled.

Question 2: What made the iOS WiFi SSID bug discussed in the episode more serious than the original crash report suggested?

Question 2

What made the iOS WiFi SSID bug discussed in the episode more serious than the original crash report suggested?

A remote attacker could exploit it only after the user manually joined the same network. The flaw only caused a transient WiFi disconnect and could not be weaponized further. A nearby attacker could trigger a zero-click drive-by infection from a malicious hotspot or beacon. The flaw affected only the SSID display string and could not be reached from beacon parsing code.

Question 3: Why did Steve describe one of the new Windows printer-driver problems as being ‘vulnerable by design’?

Question 3

Why did Steve describe one of the new Windows printer-driver problems as being ‘vulnerable by design’?

Windows only becomes vulnerable when the July 2021 security update is installed on a clean system. Windows is designed to let admins install printer drivers and to let non-admin users install signed drivers automatically. Windows prevents signed drivers from being distributed, so attackers must abuse unsigned packages instead. Windows requires printer drivers to be downloaded only from Microsoft’s update service.

Question 4: What was the key technical concern raised about Telegram’s MTProto analysis in the episode?

Question 4

What was the key technical concern raised about Telegram’s MTProto analysis in the episode?

It used TLS underneath but failed only when TLS certificate pinning was disabled. It permitted arbitrary reordering of individual messages without detection. It exposed group chats to end-to-end encryption by default, breaking message confidentiality. It reused the same session key across all devices, enabling direct decryption of stored messages.

Question 5: What did the episode say about REvil’s disappearance that supported the idea it was deliberate rather than an outage?

Question 5

What did the episode say about REvil’s disappearance that supported the idea it was deliberate rather than an outage?

Its DNS records kept resolving normally, but the malware authors revoked payment certificates. Its Tor site, clearweb payment site, and related infrastructure all went offline at the same time. Its Tor site remained reachable, but only the payment portal stopped responding. Its infrastructure failed only in Europe, while U.S.-hosted servers stayed up for several days.

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