The Flipper Zero is known as a hacking multitool. It can cover a range of hacking from sub-GHz radios, to NFC and door tags, USB attacks, and hardware attacks. In our first webcast we provided a high level overview of what Flipper Zero can do as a sampler of rapid-fire examples. This installment focuses on the hardware hacking capabilities in more depth.
Some of the topics covered include the following:
USB to UART Bridge
The Flipper Zero can serve as a USB to UART bridge. If you aren't familiar with UART, we cover that topic during the webcast. We have also written some blogs on the topic here. During the webcast, we cover how to find UART interfaces, how to wire the Flipper Zero to them, and how to connect them using software clients such as Screen or PuTTY.
SPI Flash Programmer
The webcast provides an example of how the Flipper Zero can be used as a SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) flash programmer that will allow you to read, write, erase, and verify the contents stored on an SPI flash chip. Aside from dumping firmware, we also provide some examples of where you might encounter SPI flash and how it can help outside of security applications.
AVR Programmer
The ATmega and ATtiny family of microcontrollers are quite popular today. The rise of Arduino, which was powered by these microcontrollers, coupled with low cost of these microcontrollers make them attractive for use in projects and products. These chips contain flash for the code they run. The Flipper Zero can be used as an ISP (In-System Programmer) for these microcontrollers to read and write to their flash and EEPROM regions using tools such as Avrdude. We cover the enumeration of a device, wiring it up, and using the Flipper Zero to dump firmware from a hardware CTF challenge board.
SWD/JTAG Debugger
On top of being a programmer, the Flipper Zero can help with hardware hacking and debugging! The Flipper Zero supports being a hardware device for use with OpenOCD (Open On-Chip Debugger) for SWD (Serial Wire Debug) and JTAG (Joint Test Action Group). On top of working with OpenOCD for debugging, the Flipper Zero can also be used standalone with scripted actions on SWD. During this webcast, we provide an example of using the Flipper Zero for SWD on an STM32 Blue Pill board to demonstrate how this can be used to dump firmware or even live debug firmware using GDB.
Watch the full recording of Exploring the Flipper Zero as a Hardware Hacking Tool.
Want to know what a hardware hacker can do to your devices?
Our team tests embedded systems, IoT devices, and hardware interfaces alongside traditional network and application assessments. Reach out to discuss a security assessment.
Talk to Our Team
