[sf-lug] Hacking embedded devices..

[Rick Moen]

I wrote:

> The thing is, OpenWRT is a real Linux distribution.  Real Linux
> distributions don't have hard-coded SSL (or SSH) keys.  You have to
> create them when you configure the WAP/router.

Caveat:  It's been something like a year since I set up OpenWRT 
from scratch, so you're on your own about that, and I don't promise to
remember details.  However:

> Moreover, OpenWRT doesn't default to permitting administration from 
> the public interface, to begin with.

This part I'm quite sure about.

Setup is described here:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/configuring

Steps to secure administrative access are here:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/configuring#secure.your.router.s.access
Note that there _isn't_ a default SSL cert, and the recommended steps
involve either redirecting the port 8080/tcp Web-admin access over
Dropbear sshd or a combination of Lighthttpd and OpenSSL.  Dropbear
setup generates a local host keypair _dynamically_ by the administrator,
and you'll notice that the OpenSSL instructions likewise run you through 
generating and self-signing a local cert.

Ergo, as I said, not burned into the firmware.

(Please be aware that OpenWRT, unlike DD-WRT, is a genuine open-source
project.)