Diving into Vault 7 {2} Dark Matter

Since the last article got more upvotes than expected - i'll move on to 'Dark Matter' right now as oppose to in a few days.
Unfortunately wikileaks was unable to obtain any source code or high level of technical detail for this part of the vault, instead all we have is a bunch of user guides for how to use it, which while it is interesting enough to see how you would go about utilizing these tools there isn't too much i can add to it beyond providing a shortlist for all the resources to download.
Quick links:
Sonic Scewdriver instruction manual
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/SonicScrewdriver_1p0/SonicScrewdriver_1p0.pdf
DerStarke instruction manual
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/DerStarke_v1_4_DOC/DerStarke_v1_4_DOC.pdf
DarkSeaSkies v1.0 - Test Plan Procedures
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/DarkSeaSkies_v1_0_Test_Plan_Procedures/DarkSeaSkies_v1_0_Test_Plan_Procedures.pdf
Triton V1.3 User manual
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/Triton_v1_3_DOC/Triton_v1_3_DOC.pdf
DarkSeaSkies v1.0 - URD
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/DarkSeaSkies_1_0_URD/DarkSeaSkies_1_0_URD.pdf
DarkSeaSkies v1.0 - User Manual
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/DarkSeaSkies_1_0_User_Manual/DarkSeaSkies_1_0_User_Manual.pdf
NightSkies v1.2 - User Guide
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/NightSkies_v1_2_User_Guide/NightSkies_v1_2_User_Guide.pdf
SeaPea v2.0 - User Guide
https://wikileaks.com/vault7/document/SeaPea_2_0_UserGuide/SeaPea_2_0_UserGuide.pdf

Instead of going through in order as i planned, i'll probably just select the most interesting bits first from the various parts of the vault and go through them first.

Dark Matter Summary -

March 23rd 2017, WikiLeaks releases Vault 7 "Dark Matter", which contains documentation for several CIA projects that infect Apple Mac firmware (meaning the infection persists even if the operating system is re-installed) developed by the CIA's Embedded Development Branch (EDB). These documents explain the techniques used by CIA to gain 'persistence' on Apple Mac devices, including Macs and iPhones and demonstrate their use of EFI/UEFI and firmware malware.

Among others, these documents reveal the "Sonic Screwdriver" project which, as explained by the CIA, is a "mechanism for executing code on peripheral devices while a Mac laptop or desktop is booting" allowing an attacker to boot its attack software for example from a USB stick "even when a firmware password is enabled". The CIA's "Sonic Screwdriver" infector is stored on the modified firmware of an Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter.

"DarkSeaSkies" is "an implant that persists in the EFI firmware of an Apple MacBook Air computer" and consists of "DarkMatter", "SeaPea" and "NightSkies", respectively EFI, kernel-space and user-space implants.

Documents on the "Triton" MacOSX malware, its infector "Dark Mallet" and its EFI-persistent version "DerStarke" are also included in this release. While the DerStarke1.4 manual released today dates to 2013, other Vault 7 documents show that as of 2016 the CIA continues to rely on and update these systems and is working on the production of DerStarke2.0.

Also included in this release is the manual for the CIA's "NightSkies 1.2" a "beacon/loader/implant tool" for the Apple iPhone. Noteworthy is that NightSkies had reached 1.2 by 2008, and is expressly designed to be physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones. i.e the CIA has been infecting the iPhone supply chain of its targets since at least 2008.

While CIA assets are sometimes used to physically infect systems in the custody of a target it is likely that many CIA physical access attacks have infected the targeted organization's supply chain including by interdicting mail orders and other shipments (opening, infecting, and resending) leaving the United States or otherwise.

Source: https://wikileaks.com