Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 850 Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in the Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 850 which could allow an attacker to reuse an AES encryption key to send keystrokes to other keyboard devices or to read keystrokes sent by other keyboards for the affected devices. An attacker would first have to extract the AES encryption key from the affected keyboard device. The attacker would also need to maintain physical proximity – within wireless range – of the devices for the duration of the attack.

An attacker could use the vulnerability to inject arbitrary keyboard HID packets into a keyboard’s dongle. For example, an attacker could simulate keystrokes to send malicious commands into a victim’s computer. An attacker could also read keystrokes such as passwords sent by other keyboards for the affected devices.

The update enhances security by mandating unique AES encryption keys are generated for each wireless keyboard device.