Hacker gains root access on Sony Bravia TVs firmware

A hacker has gained root access to the Linux-based firmware of a Sony Bravia TV through an exploit. This makes it theoretically possible to modify the firmware or even run software such as XBMC on the HD TVs.

A Python script is used to access the firmware of a Bravia device. This script, called Nimue, manages to gain root access via a buffer overflow, after which a Telnet server is started. This can be accessed via a USB network adapter of the device. The hacker who released the exploit allegedly got a version of Debian running on the device via a USB drive. The exploit would also work on almost any Bravia device, but a USB network adapter is a requirement, according to the hacker.

Currently, someone with root access to their Bravia firmware can’t do much, but the hacker is calling on developers to see if it is possible to get the open source media center XBMC or similar software working on Sony televisions.

It’s not just Sony’s televisions that are targeted by hackers; For example, SamyGO focuses on manipulating firmware of Samsung devices. For example, SamyGO could add pvr functionality to certain Samsung TVs, while network shares can also be accessed via the samba and nfs protocol.