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Thousands of Internet-connected servers sold by the world\u2019s biggest manufacturers can be remotely backdoored by exploiting critical vulnerabilities\u2014some more than a decade old\u2014that lurk deep inside system motherboards, according to research presented Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Baseboard management controllers are miniature computers that are embedded into the motherboards of virtually every enterprise server. The microcontrollers, typically abbreviated as BMCs, run with their own operating system firmware, network stack, and IP address. Administrators rely on them to monitor the physical status of large fleets of servers and to perform a variety of tasks, including rebooting machines, installing updates, and even reinstalling operating systems. BMCs provide what\u2019s known as \u201clights out\u201d and \u201cout-of-band\u201d management because they work even when servers they\u2019re attached to are turned off or are unresponsive.<\/p>\n
Researchers have warned since at least 2013 that BMCs present a golden opportunity for hackers looking for ways to gain deep and persistent access to datacenters. The chief culprit was IPMI, the protocol that allows BMCs to operate independently of servers and to perform administrative tasks. Vulnerabilities in this firmware made it possible for attackers to remotely execute malicious code on the controllers and, from there, infect the servers they manage.<\/p>\n
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