The curious case of Dropbox security

The Dropbox logoAfter the disclosure of the host_id authentication issues that plagued the popular Dropbox service last week, a new issue came up with the fact that Dropbox can detect whether the files you are trying to upload to their cloud already exist there, and “save you the bandwidth” of uploading it if they already have a copy in hand.

So – the Dropbox client probably checks for the hash of the file being uploaded against a list of hashes of existing files that are already stored on the cloud. It may also be that the files stored online are encrypted. So… what’s the big deal?

One has to remember that when using a service such as Dropbox (and I’m an avid user myself), you clearly do not have full control over the material you upload, and the online encryption is only a fraction of the protection you may be seeking. There is no key management visible to the user. There is no way that each client you use has its own key, nor they share keys, and if they do, Dropbox is managing your keys. This also gives them the ability to decrypt your data at any given time. Subsequently, it also gives them the ability to provide you with the file of another user if you tried to upload it yourself (hence saving you the bandwidth) – for example, when you may want to access it from a client which does not have the synched copy of your account (or through the web interface). They just decrypt the other user’s file, and serve it back to you. After all – you have the same one back on your home/work/whatever PC (remember that you showed “proof” by providing the hash before).

Which brings us back to reality – what are we really exposed to here in terms of risk?

  1. Dropbox has the ability to access the contents of my files.
  2. If I can come up with a hash of a file that I know someone else has, and that file may be confidential in some way, I can potentially claim to upload the same file, and then download the real one (as I don’t really have the original) from another client or through the web interface.

Clearly, the media attention to point 1 is important – but still not really interesting as people should have had a clue when they send their files to the “cloud”.

However, point 2 makes a more interesting argument… It would be interesting to see when the first “hack” will come along which will start “uploading” files (by hacking the client protocol – hint: start here, here, and here) just based on hashes, and then downloading them as if from another client to see what you get (if they were “cached” already on the Dropbox cloud). Now that would be an interesting little experiment…

Happy hacking!


Comments

4 responses to “The curious case of Dropbox security”

  1. Great post – clear and down to earth analysis. Keep on going!

  2. Interesting post and it now has me second guessing all these online services. So are you saying this issue is unique to Dropbox – or is it prevalent to all of these cloud services? For example, Carbonite and Mozy allow you to manage your own keys so I assume these issues wouldn’t apply, correct?

    Travis

  3. James Robson Avatar
    James Robson

    It’s interesting, that if you ever looked around the Dropbox forums, they’ve never made a secret of what is often called ‘de-duplication’, or hashing for efficiency. It’s just part of their algorithm. If I was trying to solve the problem they’re solving, syncing millions of potentially identical files for users via ‘the cloud’, I’d probably have come up with the same solution.

    So it’s interesting that until the media frenzy and FUD began, this was pretty much quietly ignored. As was the fact that any cloud service that you have to send your files to requires that you trust them to treat your data appropriately.

    My startup has just released SecretSync, a client-side encryption tool that works with Dropbox, and encrypts your files on your computer before letting Dropbox handle them. We didn’t build this out of a fear of Dropbox not being secure, but as a matter of privacy.

    http://getsecretsync.com

    In regard to the hashing you mention, de-duplication doesn’t apply where encryption is concerned. If 10 people encrypt the exact same file, Dropbox will see 10 unique files.

  4. Security Companies Avatar
    Security Companies

    Fantastic web site. A lot of helpful information here. I¡¦m sending it to some buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thanks on your effort!

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