#HITBCW2021 D2 - HITB LAB: ARM IoT Firmware Extraction And Emulation Using ARMX - Saumil Shah

ARMX was released at HITB+Cyberweek in October 2019. The goal has always been to get as close to a "IoT virtual machine" as possible. This workshop is a 2 hour hands-on session for those wanting to try out IoT emulation end to end. We shall start with extracting the firmware from a couple of popular IoT devices (IP Cameras, Wifi Routers) and proceed to create emulated images of these devices in ARMX. The instructors shall bring the necessary hardware tools and devices for the participants to let them get a first hand experience.

Agenda

Overview of IoT firmware
SPI flash memory - identification and pinouts
Extracting memory contents using flash programmers
Understanding Flash partitions
Unpacking the firmware
Extracting the root file system
Preparing the kernel
Putting it all together in ARMX

Duration - 120 minutes
Format - Bring Your Own Laptop workshop.

Requirements - every participant is required to bring their laptop which supports the following:

Docker on Linux or macOS. (Docker on Windows/WSL2 is flaky and we won't troubleshoot it)

ARMX Docker image installed ahead of time. Setup instructions for ARMX Docker shall be sent to registered participants.

IMPORTANT - We have not tested docker on the new MacBook M1. While the new MacBook M1s are pretty and fast, it's up to you to test and ensure that everything works before rocking up to the workshop.

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Saumil graduated with an M.S. in Computer Science from Purdue University, USA and a B.E. in Computer Engineering from Gujarat University. He spends his leisure time breaking software, flying kites, traveling around the world and taking pictures.