A hacker known as GaryOderNichts has successfully cracked Nintendo’s new Alarmo clock by exploiting a vulnerability in its cryptographic processor’s interface. The device, which aims to make waking up “fun,” uses code to play sounds and music from popular games to wake owners up.
Gary discovered the exploit after following research by graduate computer science researcher Naomi Smith, who had previously found Serial Wire Debug (SWD) pins on the Alarmo’s board. With the help of vulnerability researcher Mike Heskin, Gary was able to obtain the AES-128-CTR key used to encrypt and decrypt content files.
Using this new visibility, Gary created a custom payload that displays a cat picture, which he has shared publicly. Additionally, Gary has released a project that allows anyone to brute-force the Alarmo’s AES key, potentially leading to more creative custom code being developed for the device in the future.
Nintendo has not commented on the hack yet, but it is unclear if they are aware of its use for other purposes.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/01/hack_nintendos_alarmo