('binary' encoding is not supported, stored as-is) ######################################################################## Mike Kristovich, PivX Security Advisory MK#002B Date: January 10, 2003 Application: H&R Block Tax Cut Version: All versions up to current. Bug: Information in saved Tax Returns discloses Social Security Number, Full Information, and more.. Risk: Can allow for identity theft, information disclosure Author: Mike Kristovich, Security Researcher, PivX Solutions, LLC e-mail: mkristovichat_private ######################################################################## Sections: 1) Introduction 2) Bug 3) Proof of concept code. 4) Fix 5) Philosophy 6) Closing comments.. 7) Contact ______________________________________________________________________ 1) Introduction According to the Jupiter report, 31 percent of online households intend to file their taxes over the Web this year, up from the 30 percent reported by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last year. The IRS plans to receive 80 percent of all returns electronically by 2007. Complaints about identity theft have risen 73 percent from a year ago, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. With the influx of e-tax filers and the rise in identity theft PivX believes this vulnerability should be taken quite seriously. Someone with a minimal set of computer skills could locally or remotely obtain confidential information on multitude of users. TurboTax (Advisory #MK002A) and TaxCut (#MK002B) both save their contents to the hard drive. These files are unencrypted, and even with a simple text editor, you can see all the information you would in the tax return. These files can be accessed in any number of ways, but the most likely way would be through unprotected windows shares. Another key method to extract these files by means of a P2P file sharing application such as Limewire, KaZaa, Morpheus, etc etc. Many users have their P2P applications misconfigured and this is supported by doing a quick search on the tax file extension listed below. See the below KaZaa screenshot of a local-range search for tax files. A full network search could yeild thousands upon thousands of results.: http://www.pivx.com/kristovich/images/kazaatax.jpg The bottom line is: - Be aware of what you are sharing to the public - There are other ways files could be collected, such as through a worm, an exploit, or a trojan horse. H&R Block Tax Cut files are named with this extension: ".sbr" .. Decently small files < 8k usually. and are usually located in a directory off the root of the drive, such as "TaxCut02", under the subdirectory "Program\TaxData" A "hacked" H&R block computer could give an identity theft hundreds of plaintext files full of information. Example Screenshot: [http://www.pivx.com/kristovich/images/taxcut.gif] ______________________________________________________________________ 2) Bug Just a small insecurity can lead to a lot of information. Tax Cut is pretty simple to view. Just load the file into a text editor and you've got it all. Social Security #, dependants SS#s, address, wages, etc. Example Screenshot: [http://www.pivx.com/kristovich/images/sbrfile.jpg] ______________________________________________________________________ 3) Proof-of-concept code No proof of concept needed, just use a hex editor or text editor as files are associated: (.sbr) Text Editor ______________________________________________________________________ 4) Fix * No response has yet been recieved from H&R Block. (1/10/2003) * Second contact email sent on 1/29/2003. * No response as of 3/04/2003. The best solution is to move saved tax files to a more private place, such as a CD-R. Even if a drive is not shared to the public, you may still be at risk through other exploits or trojan horses. As mentioned by Becky Worley in a TechTV article tuesday, [http://www.techtv.com/news/security/story/0,24195,3420432,00.html] Easy Crypto Deluxe is recommended to password protect your sensitive data. You can download it here: http://www.handybits.com/easycrypto.htm Hopefully the company will create a fix for this problem. ______________________________________________________________________ 5) Philosophy Full disclosure can lead to a quick fix, and prevent a problem before it gets into the wrong hands. ______________________________________________________________________ 6) Closing comments.. In the electronic world, consider nothing secure. You should never store this type of information on a live computer. Be careful. ______________________________________________________________________ 7) Contact Any questions, comments, complaints, technical questions: Mike Kristovich, Researcher PivX Solutions, LLC mkristovichat_private Other Inquiries: Geoff Shively, CHO PivX Solutions, LLC gshivelyat_private ______________________________________________________________________
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