EPISODE · Dec 27, 2025 · 56 MIN
Pwn2Roll: Who Needs a 595€ Remote When You Have wheelchair.py? (39c3)
from Chaos Computer Club - recent events feed (high quality) · host elfy
A 595€ wheelchair remote that sends a handful of Bluetooth commands. A 99.99€ app feature that does exactly what the 595€ hardware does. A speed upgrade from 6 to 8.5 km/h locked behind a 99.99€ paywall - because apparently catching the bus is a premium feature. Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM in assistive devices, where already expensive basic mobility costs extra and comes with in-app purchases! And because hackers gonna hack, this just could not be left alone. This talk depicts the reverse engineering of a popular electric wheelchair drive system - the Alber e-motion M25: a several thousand euro assistive device that treats mobility like a SaaS subscription. Through Android app reverse engineering, proprietary Bluetooth protocol analysis, hours of staring at hex dumps (instead of the void), and good old-fashioned packet sniffing, we'll expose how manufacturers artificially limit essential features and monetize basic human mobility. What you'll learn: - how a 22-character QR code sticker, labeled as "Cyber Security Key", becomes AES encryption - why your 6000€ wheelchair drive includes an app with Google Play Billing integration for features the hardware already supports - the internals, possibilities and features of electronics worth 30€ cosplaying as a 595€ medical device - the technical implementation of the "pay 99.99€ or stay slow" speed limiter (6 km/h vs 8.5 km/h) - how nearly 2000€ in hardware and app features can be replaced by a few hundred lines of Python - why the 8000€ even more premium (self-driving) variant is literally identical hardware with a different Boolean flag and firmware plus another (pricier) remote We'll cover the complete methodology: from initial reconnaissance, sniffing and decrypting packets to reverse-engineer the proprietary communication protocol, to PoCs of Python replacements, tools, techniques, and ethical considerations of reverse engineering medical devices. This is a story about artificial scarcity, exploitative DRM, ethics and industry power, and how hacker-minded creatures should react and act to this. This talk will be simultaneously interpretated into German sign language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache aka. DGS). Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 about this event: https://events.ccc.de/congress/2025/hub/event/detail/pwn2roll-who-needs-a-599-remote-when-you-have-wheelchair-py
What this episode covers
A 595€ wheelchair remote that sends a handful of Bluetooth commands. A 99.99€ app feature that does exactly what the 595€ hardware does. A speed upgrade from 6 to 8.5 km/h locked behind a 99.99€ paywall - because apparently catching the bus is a premium feature. Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM in assistive devices, where already expensive basic mobility costs extra and comes with in-app purchases! And because hackers gonna hack, this just could not be left alone. This talk depicts the reverse engineering of a popular electric wheelchair drive system - the Alber e-motion M25: a several thousand euro assistive device that treats mobility like a SaaS subscription. Through Android app reverse engineering, proprietary Bluetooth protocol analysis, hours of staring at hex dumps (instead of the void), and good old-fashioned packet sniffing, we'll expose how manufacturers artificially limit essential features and monetize basic human mobility. What you'll learn: - how a 22-character QR code sticker, labeled as "Cyber Security Key", becomes AES encryption - why your 6000€ wheelchair drive includes an app with Google Play Billing integration for features the hardware already supports - the internals, possibilities and features of electronics worth 30€ cosplaying as a 595€ medical device - the technical implementation of the "pay 99.99€ or stay slow" speed limiter (6 km/h vs 8.5 km/h) - how nearly 2000€ in hardware and app features can be replaced by a few hundred lines of Python - why the 8000€ even more premium (self-driving) variant is literally identical hardware with a different Boolean flag and firmware plus another (pricier) remote We'll cover the complete methodology: from initial reconnaissance, sniffing and decrypting packets to reverse-engineer the proprietary communication protocol, to PoCs of Python replacements, tools, techniques, and ethical considerations of reverse engineering medical devices. This is a story about artificial scarcity, exploitative DRM, ethics and industry power, and how hacker-minded creatures should react and act to this. This talk will be simultaneously interpretated into German sign language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache aka. DGS). Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 about this event: https://events.ccc.de/congress/2025/hub/event/detail/pwn2roll-who-needs-a-599-remote-when-you-have-wheelchair-py
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Pwn2Roll: Who Needs a 595€ Remote When You Have wheelchair.py? (39c3)
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