search

CTXz / stm32f1-picopwner

Dump read-out protected STM32F1's with a Pi Pico - A Pi Pico implementation of @JohannesObermaier's, Marc Schink's and Kosma Moczek's Glitch and FPB attack to bypass RDP (read-out protection) level 1 on STM32F1 chips
166 stars 23 forks source link

another potential issue on the connection picture #17

Closed gezzerlol closed 5 months ago

gezzerlol commented 5 months ago

Connection picture doesn't imply a seperate debug probe is to be used. I know it's a silly mistake to be done on the user side but I spent 2 hours on searching fixes for "waiting for a debug probe to be connected..." screen due to my sheer lack of knowledge. I just assumed that the pico with the attack firmware is now somehow magically a debug probe. After telling my self "could this debug probe be an st-link?" I finally got this worked and dumped the firmware lol

CTXz commented 5 months ago

Hi!

First off, glad to hear it still ended up working!

I do appriciate the suggestion but I'd like to mention that the README does mention in the "What you'll need to get started" section that a debug probe is required and even goes as far as to proivde the ST-LINK v2 as an example:

  • A debug probe (e.g. a ST-Link V2)

It should also be noted that a debug probe musn't necessarily be a ST-Link, but may also be, say..., a J-link.

Further I'd like to point out this paragraph in the "Pre-Requisites" section:

The instructions also require that you have a basic understanding of how to build Pico SDK based projects. It also pre-supposes that you have a basic understanding of how to connect your Pi Pico and debug probe to your target STM32F1 board.

Adding a debug probe to the illustration is also not necessary in my opinion as the probe is only used for the preparation of the exploit.

That being said, I propose as a solution to this potential missunderstanding that the waiting for a debug probe to be connected... message will be changed to waiting for a debug probe (e.g. ST-LINK) to be connected.... I'm also considering to release a video that goes throught all steps required to test out the exploit on a bluepill.

If you have any disagreements and/or further suggestions, let me know!

gezzerlol commented 5 months ago

You're right, I realized an st-link debug probe requirement is mentioned in the "What you'll need to get started" section, and later the message "waiting for a debug probe to be connected..." message explicitly mentions a debug probe, which is an st-link for most people. This is true for people who have the experience and understanding using a debug probe on an stm target, which you also listed as a prerequisite. But as a person who use st-link for debugging and programming but lacks near full understanding of terms and concepts, the term "debug probe" didn't click in my brain, since I don't use the name "debug probe" when mentioning an st-link device. The replacement message you proposed could make the tool more accessible to a few more people who are like me I believe. A complementary video would also be nice for people who are visual learners, if you bother to shoot one.