Re: PalmOS Memo Record Hiding Vulnerability.

From: Goetz Bock (bockat_private)
Date: Wed Jul 09 2003 - 15:11:23 PDT

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    > -[BACKGROUND]-:
    > 
    > PalmOS includes a pre-installed 'Security'
    > Application, which allows a Palm enabled device to add
    > weak security, to hide data and protect the PDA from
    > casual snoopers.  One particular feature is the
    > ability to "Hide" Memos set as "Private" in the
    > Security section of MemoPad, and set a password so
    > that "Private" memos can only be read by those
    > possessing the Password.
    this "bug" is known since the very beginning of PalmOS v1.x. IIRC the
    SDK even mentioned that it is the task of the author of any Palm OS
    software to check and honor the "private"/"hidden" flag on it's own. 
    
    While it's sad that Palm Inc did not fix this, I'm actually surprised
    that this fact is new to anyone who spend any time checking the security
    of PalmOS.
    
    BTW: it's trivialy possible to remove the password and even retrive it
         in clear text with a small 3rd part application.
         Search the mailing list on ultraviolette.org (iirc, and if it still
         exists) for the program to get your password. It was posted there
         years ago.
    -- 
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