Satellites in the Sandbox: Hands-On Component Collusion and Aerospace C2 Evasion
As space infrastructure adopts Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware, satellite supply chains present critical blind spots. Traditional security reviews focus on monolithic flight software, missing malicious peripheral components that activate only in orbit. This session examines attack surface inside NASA’s open-source Core Flight Software (cFS) framework. We demonstrate Component Collusion - evasion vector assigned to the SPARTA matrix (ID: DE-0012), showing how malware logic can be fragmented across benign COTS applications. By routing covert coordination through hidden OS file interfaces (FIFOs) rather than the monitored cFS Software Bus, this threat evades telemetry baselines and flight-readiness reviews. The talk includes a live demonstration of dynamic GNSS triggers, covert telemetry exfiltration over simulated RF links, and targeted detection strategies for satellite frameworks.
This 30-minute talk delivers a technical walkthrough of supply chain evasion mechanics inside NASA’s Core Flight Software (cFS) ecosystem.
security researcher focused on the resilience of critical infrastructure
background in offensive security