Security News > 2021 > January > Cloning Google Titan 2FA keys

The cloning works by using a hot air gun and a scalpel to remove the plastic key casing and expose the NXP A700X chip, which acts as a secure element that stores the cryptographic secrets.

The exploit allows an attacker to obtain the long-term elliptic curve digital signal algorithm private key designated for a given account.

With the crypto key in hand, the attacker can then create her own key, which will work for each account she targeted.

A hacker would first have to steal a target's account password and also gain covert possession of the physical key for as many as 10 hours.

While the researchers performed their attack on the Google Titan, they believe that other hardware that uses the A700X, or chips based on the A700X, may also be vulnerable.

If true, that would include Yubico's YubiKey NEO and several 2FA keys made by Feitian.

News URL

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/01/cloning-google-titan-2fa-keys.html