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.