I cracked a $200 software protection with xcopy
5 days ago
- #security
- #reverse-engineering
- #software-protection
- Author analyzed Enigma Protector, a $200 commercial software protection system, and found a critical vulnerability.
- The protection only secures the installer, not the actual payload (VST plugin), making it trivial to bypass.
- Using a simple 'xcopy' command, the protected files can be copied and run on any machine without any license checks.
- The VST plugin had no Enigma runtime or license callbacks, rendering the protection ineffective.
- The article highlights the importance of protecting the payload, not just the installer, and proper threat modeling.
- A Python script was created to automate the file copying process, demonstrating how easy it was to bypass the protection.
- The author also explored a DLL hooking approach for bypassing Enigma's validation, though it was unnecessary given the vulnerability.
- Key lessons include the need for defense in depth, periodic validation, and ensuring protection is applied correctly.
- The case study shows that expensive protection systems are worthless if not implemented properly.