Emulating Samsung's Baseband for Security Testing

Explore the intricacies of baseband processor security testing in this Black Hat conference talk. Dive into the development of an emulation environment for Samsung's "Shannon" baseband, combining avatar2 and PANDA frameworks to create a flexible platform for vulnerability research. Learn about the challenges of exploring baseband attack surfaces, including over-the-air testing limitations and debugging difficulties. Discover how the speakers address these issues through their custom emulation environment, ShannonEE. Gain insights into reverse engineering techniques, boot modes, memory structures, and fuzzing methodologies specific to baseband processors. Witness practical demonstrations, including a rediscovery of the "Call of Death" vulnerability. Understand the importance of baseband security in modern mobile phones and cellular networks, covering protocols from 2G to 5G. Conclude with a discussion on future work and potential applications of this emulation approach in enhancing mobile device security.