Potential vulnerability: topic names from ROS parameters

[tandf]

Hi,

We notice that you are using topic names from ROS parameters at the following locations:

teleop_legged_robots/src/teleop_legged_robots.py

Lines 113 to 114 in d71d102

	self.twist_publisher = rospy.Publisher(twist_publisher_name, Twist, queue_size=1)
	self.pose_publisher = rospy.Publisher(pose_publisher_name, Pose, queue_size=1)

For security reasons detailed below, we strongly suggest avoiding the usage of strings from parameters as topic names.

Although parameters are usually set in parameter files, they can also be changed by nodes. Specifically, other nodes in the same ROS application can also change the parameters listed above before it’s used, either by accident or intentionally (i.e., by potential attackers). In the teleop_legged_robots node, both the twist publisher and the pose publisher use topic names acquired from parameters, which means if /teleop_legged_robots/twist_publisher_name and /teleop_legged_robots/pose_publisher_name parameters are changed, the teleop_legged_robots node cannot function correctly. If an attacker exists, she can even take full control of the victim robot by first fooling the teleop_legged_robots node to publish to a wrong topic like /cmd_vel_fake, and then forwarding all messages from /cmd_vel_fake to /cmd_vel after changing the contents as she wants to. The victim robot cannot be controlled by the user, and the attacker can choose to move the robot as she wants, which can cause harm to the robot itself, and even surrounding humans. Because ROS is an OSS (open-source software) community, third-party nodes are widely used in ROS applications, usually without complete vetting of their behavior, which gives the opportunity to potentially malicious actors to inject malicious code (e.g, by submitting hypocrite commits like in other OSS systems [1]) to infiltrate the ROS applications that use it (or software supply chain attacks, one of the primary means for real-world attackers today [2]).

We understand that using parameters to set topic names brings flexibility. Still, for the purpose of security, we strongly suggest that you avoid such vulnerable programming patterns if possible. For example, to avoid the exposure of this specific vulnerability, you may consider alternatives like remapping, which is designed for configuring names when launching the nodes.

[1] Q. Wu and K. Lu, “On the feasibility of stealthily introducing vulnerabilities in open-source software via hypocrite commits,” 2021, https://linuxreviews.org/images/d/d9/OpenSourceInsecurity.pdf.
[2] Supply chain attacks are the hacker’s new favourite weapon. and the threat is getting bigger. https://www.zdnet.com/article/supply-chain-attacks-are-the-hackers-new-favourite-weapon-and-the-threat-is-getting-bigger/.

[tandf]

Hi there, I wanted to follow up on this security vulnerability. Could you please let me know if there have been any updates or concerns regarding this issue? Thanks