Security Assessment of an IoT-Based Fleet Management System

One of Asia's top telecom providers builds GSM-based fleet monitoring devices that track vehicle location, fuel and engine data over the cloud. Payatu gained root shell access through the device's USB interface and used it to extract firmware, credentials and keys, all within a two-week engagement window.

IoT Security Assessment

At a glance

INDUSTRY

Telecom / IoT Fleet Management

CLIENT PROFILE

One of Asia's top telecom service providers, offering GSM-based fleet monitoring devices

SERVICES

IoT Security Assessment

ENGAGEMENT

Two-week device security assessment

Key Takeaways

Client – One of Asia's top telecom service providers, offering GSM- based monitoring devices for commercial fleet management.

Problem – The devices monitored vehicle parameters like tire pressure, engine heat, location, fuel consumption and distance over the cloud, and the client needed to know whether the firmware design could be stolen or device communication tampered with.

What Payatu did – Gained root shell access through the USB interface using a kernel vulnerability, then reverse-engineered device functionality, read files, credentials and keys, and identified a path to implant malicious firmware code.

Outcome – Helped the client close the security gaps that could have led to intellectual property theft and manipulated vehicle data, completing the assessment in two weeks.

the challenge

Why the client called us in

Our client, one of Asia's top telecom service providers, offers GSM-based monitoring devices that track vehicle parameters like tire pressure, engine heat, location, fuel consumption and distance over the cloud, without altering them. The client wanted to know whether an attacker could steal the device's firmware design or tamper with its communication in a way that would corrupt the data reaching the cloud. The client brought in Payatu's research team to test the device from both angles.

Identify loopholes that could allow the device's firmware design to be stolen
Determine what attacks could compromise or tamper with device communication
Assess the impact on the fleet management system if the device was compromised

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scope of engagement

What was in scope

Hardware and USB interface security assessment
Firmware extraction and reverse engineering

Our Approach

How Payatu ran the engagement

01

Root Access via USB Interface

Exploited a kernel vulnerability reachable through the device's USB interface to gain root shell access, opening a channel for both admin- level control and remote attacks.

02

Post-Exploitation Analysis

Used the root access to install an application that reverse-engineered the device's exposed binaries, read files, credentials and keys, and identified a path to implant malicious code in the firmware.

Key findings

What we found

Root Access via Kernel Vulnerability

A kernel vulnerability reachable through the device's USB interface allowed root shell access, giving an attacker complete control of the system and opening channels for remote attacks.

Firmware and Credential Exposure

With root access, device functionality could be reverse-engineered from exposed binaries, and files, credentials and keys could be read and extracted, creating a path to implant malicious firmware code.

the outcome

Results and Impact

With Payatu's assessment complete in a tight two-week window, the telecom provider closed the security gaps that could have led to firmware IP theft and manipulated fleet data, protecting both its intellectual property and the integrity of the data its fleet customers rely on.

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