Researchers at the University of Florida, together with CertiK, have come up with a theoretical attack, called “VoltSchemer” (PDF), which allows control of the wireless charger through manipulation of the supply voltage.
The attack could allow threat actors to do harm charging devicesbypass the mechanisms of the Qi standard e manipulate voice assistants. It would be able to do this by exploiting voltage disturbances coming from the power supply.
The Qi standard was developed by the Wireless Power Consortium and manages the communication between the power adapter, wireless charger and charging device.
Wireless chargers rely on near-field magnetic coupling for power transfer, making them safer than wired chargers. Power signals used for power transfers, however, could be modified to control Qi communication between the charged device and the charger, allowing a threat actor to instruct the charger to perform malicious actions.
“Voltage noise from the power adapter can propagate through the power cord and modulate the power signals on the charger’s transmitter coil due to the effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the charger,” the researchers said in the paper.
The researchers also noted that they tested their theoretical attacks against nine different commercial wireless chargers and found them all vulnerable.