Chrome design flaw allows sites to record Audio/Video without indication

Pierluigi Paganini May 31, 2017

A developer has discovered a flaw in the Chrome browser that could be exploited to secretly Record Audio/Video without indication.

The AOL developer Ran Bar-Zik discovered a disconcerting vulnerability in Google’s Chrome browser could be exploited by attackers to record audio or video without giving any visual notification or alert.

“After getting the audio\video usage permissions for WebRTC. JS code can record video\audio without showing the graphical red dot in the tab when the record process is running. i.e. – after the permission is given the site can listen to the user whenever he want to. It is done because JS `window.open` method does not give visual indication on record init. ” reads the security advisory.

Web browser based audio-video communications use WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) protocol to enable real-time communication over peer-to-peer connections without the use of plugins.

However, to protect unauthorised streaming of audio and video without user’s permission, the web browser first request users to explicitly allow websites to use WebRTC and access device the camera and the microphone installed on the host. Once granted, a website will have the access to both camera and microphone until the user will explicitly revoke WebRTC permissions.

Modern browsers notify users when audio or video is being recorded in order to prevent abuses even by previously ‘authorised’ websites.

In Google Chrome, users are notified with a red dot icon that appears on the tab.

“Activating this API will alert the user that the audio or video from one of the devices is being captured. Chrome and Firefox implemented this alert (Recording media is not available in Edge yet).” Bar-Zik wrote on a Medium blog post. “This record indication is the last and the most important line of defense. The general video\audio device permission is required one time only and user can err and grant it by mistake. Once you granted it, that’s it. The record alert is given on ANY stream record usage and will prevent any record without the user knowledge. “

The researcher discovered that new HTML5 video\audio API has privacy issues on desktop Chrome allowing to hackers to use the PC as a surveillance device.

The expert demonstrated that after granting the general access from the user it is possible to activate the MediaRecorder from a headless window opened.

chrome hacking

“Developers can exploit small UX manipulation to activate the MediaRecorder API without alerting the users. The process is quite simple.” reads the analsysis shared by the expert. “After granting the general access from the user — Open a headless window and activate the MediaRecorder from that window. In Chrome there will be no visual record indication.”

The issue is related to a design flaw in Chrome that doesn’t display a red-dot indication on headless windows, allowing site developers to “exploit small UX manipulation to activate the MediaRecorder API without alerting the users.”

Bar-Zik also published a proof-of-concept (PoC) code and a demo website that asks the user for permission to use WebRTC, opens a pop-up, and then records 20 seconds of audio without giving any indication to the user.

The demo website has two buttons on a page, the first one is used to ask the device permission like many websites on the web. The second button launches the attack, after 30 seconds users can download MP3.

In a real attack, hackers can use very small pop-under and submit the data anywhere and close it when the user is focusing on it.

“It can use very small pop-under and submit the data anywhere and close it when the user is focusing on it. It can use the camera for millisecond to get your picture. It can (In theory) use XSS to ride on legitimate sites and their permissions.” Bar-Zik concluded. 

The reported design issue affects Google Chrome, we cannot exclude its presence also in the implementation of other web browsers. The researcher reported the bug to Google on April 10, 2017, but the company doesn’t classify the issue as a security vulnerability.

it plans to fix the issue in the future, but not immediately.

“This isn’t really a security vulnerability – for example, WebRTC on a mobile device shows no indicator at all in the browser,” a Chromium member replied to the report. “The dot is a best-first effort that only works on the desktop when we have chrome UI space available. That being said, we are looking at ways to improve this situation.”

To protect your PC disable the WebRTC.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Chrome, hacking)

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