http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/5/5263/1.html
How NSA access was built into Windows
Duncan Campbell 04.09.1999
Careless mistake reveals subversion of Windows by NSA.
A CARELESS mistake by Microsoft programmers has revealed that special
access codes prepared by the US National Security Agency have been
secretly built into Windows. The NSA access system is built into every
version of the Windows operating system now in use, except early
releases of Windows 95 (and its predecessors). The discovery comes close
on the heels of the revelations earlier this year that another US
software giant, Lotus, had built an NSA "help information"
[local] trapdoor <http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/2/2898/1.html> into
its Notes system, and that security functions on other software systems
had been deliberately crippled.
The first discovery of the new NSA access system was made two years ago
by British researcher Dr Nicko van Someren. But it was only a few weeks
ago when a second researcher rediscovered the access system. With it, he
found the evidence linking it to NSA.
Computer security specialists have been aware for two years that unusual
features are contained inside a standard Windows software "driver" used
for security and encryption functions. The driver, called ADVAPI.DLL,
enables and controls a range of security functions. If you use Windows,
you will find it in the C:\Windows\system directory of your computer.
ADVAPI.DLL works closely with Microsoft Internet Explorer, but will only
run cryptographic functions that the US governments allows Microsoft to
export. That information is bad enough news, from a European point of
view. Now, it turns out that ADVAPI will run special programmes inserted
and controlled by NSA. As yet, no-one knows what these programmes are,
or what they do.
Dr Nicko van Someren reported at last year's Crypto 98 conference that
he had disassembled the ADVADPI driver. He found it contained two
different keys. One was used by Microsoft to control the cryptographic
functions enabled in Windows, in compliance with US export regulations.
But the reason for building in a second key, or who owned it, remained a
mystery.
A second key
Two weeks ago, a US security company came up with conclusive evidence
that the second key belongs to NSA. Like Dr van Someren, Andrew
Fernandez, chief scientist with Cryptonym of Morrisville, North
Carolina, had been probing the presence and significance of the two
keys. Then he checked the latest Service Pack release for Windows NT4,
[extern] Service Pack 5
<http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/sp5/allsp5.asp>.
He found that Microsoft's developers had failed to remove or "strip" the
debugging symbols used to test this software before they released it.
Inside the code were the labels for the two keys. One was called "KEY".
The other was called "NSAKEY".
Fernandes reported his re-discovery of the two CAPI keys, and their
secret meaning, to "Advances in Cryptology, Crypto'99" conference held
in Santa Barbara. According to those present at the conference, Windows
developers attending the conference did not deny that the "NSA" key was
built into their software. But they refused to talk about what the key
did, or why it had been put there without users' knowledge.
A third key?!
But according to two witnesses attending the conference, even
Microsoft's top crypto programmers were astonished to learn that the
version of ADVAPI.DLL shipping with Windows 2000 contains not two, but
three keys. Brian LaMachia, head of CAPI development at Microsoft was
"stunned" to learn of these discoveries, by outsiders. The latest
discovery by Dr van Someren is based on advanced search methods which
test and report on the "entropy" of programming code.
Within the Microsoft organisation, access to Windows source code is said
to be highly compartmentalized, making it easy for modifications to be
inserted without the knowledge of even the respective product managers.
Researchers are divided about whether the NSA key could be intended to
let US government users of Windows run classified cryptosystems on their
machines or whether it is intended to open up anyone's and everyone's
Windows computer to intelligence gathering techniques deployed by NSA's
burgeoning corps of "information warriors".
According to Fernandez of Cryptonym, the result of having the secret key
inside your Windows operating system "is that it is tremendously easier
for the NSA to load unauthorized security services on all copies of
Microsoft Windows, and once these security services are loaded, they can
effectively compromise your entire operating system". The NSA key is
contained inside all versions of Windows from Windows 95 OSR2 onwards.
"For non-American IT managers relying on Windows NT to operate highly
secure data centres, this find is worrying", he added. "The US
government is currently making it as difficult as possible for "strong"
crypto to be used outside of the US. That they have also installed a
cryptographic back-door in the world's most abundant operating system
should send a strong message to foreign IT managers".
"How is an IT manager to feel when they learn that in every copy of
Windows sold, Microsoft has a 'back door' for NSA - making it orders of
magnitude easier for the US government to access your computer?" he asked.
Can the loophole be turned round against the snoopers?
Dr van Someren feels that the primary purpose of the NSA key inside
Windows may be for legitimate US government use. But he says that there
cannot be a legitimate explanation for the third key in Windows 2000
CAPI. "It looks more fishy", he said.
Fernandez believes that NSA's built-in loophole can be turned round
against the snoopers. The NSA key inside CAPI can be replaced by your
own key, and used to sign cryptographic security modules from overseas
or unauthorised third parties, unapproved by Microsoft or the NSA. This
is exactly what the US government has been trying to prevent. A
demonstration "how to do it" program that replaces the NSA key can be
found on Cryptonym's [extern] website
<http://www.cryptonym.com/hottopics/msft-nsa/ReplaceNsaKey.zip>.
According to one leading US cryptographer, the IT world should be
thankful that the subversion of Windows by NSA has come to light before
the arrival of CPUs that handles encrypted instruction sets. These would
make the type of discoveries made this month impossible. "Had the
next-generation CPU's with encrypted instruction sets already been
deployed, we would have never found out about NSAKEY."
--
- Cygnus -
'Veritas vos liberabit'
--
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