The researchers were able to remotely control the braking system, sunroof, door locks, trunk, side-view mirrors and more

Credit: Tesla

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Lucian Constantin

IDG News Service

Sep 20, 2016 8:24 AM

Tesla Motors is considered one of the most cybersecurity-conscious car manufacturers in the world—among other things, it has a bug bounty program. But that doesn't mean the software in its cars is free of security flaws.

Researchers from Chinese technology company Tencent found a series of vulnerabilities that, when combined, allowed them to remotely take over a Tesla Model S car and control its sunroof, central display, door locks and even the braking system. The attack allowed the researchers to access the car's controller area network (CAN) bus, which lets the vehicle's specialized computers communicate with each other.

"As far as we know, this is the first case of remote attack which compromises CAN Bus to achieve remote controls on Tesla cars," the researchers from Tencent's Keen Security Lab said in a blog post Monday. "We have verified the attack vector on multiple varieties of Tesla Model S. It is reasonable to assume that other Tesla models are affected."

The blog post is accompanied by a demonstration video in which the researchers show what they can achieve through their attack, which works either while the car is parked or being driven.

First, while the car was parked, the researchers used a laptop to remotely open its sunroof, activate the steering light, reposition the driver's seat, take over the dashboard and central display and unlock the car.