How Your E-book Might Be Reading You - Exploiting EPUB Reading Systems

Explore the security vulnerabilities of EPUB reading systems in this 35-minute Black Hat conference talk. Delve into an analysis of 97 free EPUB reading applications across multiple platforms and e-readers using a semi-automated testbed. Discover how half of these applications fail to comply with EPUB security specifications, potentially compromising user privacy. Examine the e-book ecosystem, JavaScript support, remote communication capabilities, and local file system access. Learn about specific case studies involving Apple Books, EPUBReader, and Amazon Kindle, including implementation details, exploit strategies, and mitigation efforts. Gain insights into the feasibility of e-book distribution and the potential for capability abuse in the wild. Walk away with key takeaways on the security implications of e-book reading systems and their impact on user privacy.

How Your E-book Might Be Reading You: Exploiting EPUB Reading Systems
The e book ecosystem
Semi-automated black-box evaluation
JavaScript support Inline
Remote communication
Local file system access
Web engine evaluation
Results (3)
Case studies
Apple Books
EPUBReader: implementation
EPUBReader: exploit strategy
EPUBReader: putting the exploit together
Amazon Kindle: implementation
Amazon Kindle: exploitation (2)
Amazon Kindle: mitigation
Capability (ab)use in the wild
Feasibility of e-book distribution
Key takeaways