A groundbreaking cybersecurity vulnerability has been unveiled, demonstrating that ordinary computer mice can be transformed into covert eavesdropping tools capable of exfiltrating sensitive user conversations.
Dubbed the “Mic-E-Mouse” attack, the technique leverages high-performance optical sensors embedded in modern consumer mice to capture and reconstruct audio through surface vibrations, raising new alarms about the privacy and security of everyday peripherals.
Mic-E-Mouse Platform:
Researchers have shown that the latest generation of computer mice, designed for enhanced precision and sensitivity, is unintentionally capable of detecting minute acoustic vibrations transmitted via desks and other work surfaces.
When users speak near their workstations, these vibrations are picked up by the mouse’s sensors, which were originally engineered for tracking subtle movements.
The Mic-E-Mouse platform capitalizes on these advanced sensors, employing sophisticated machine learning and digital signal processing capabilities to convert low-quality vibration signals into intelligible speech.
The research team’s pipeline can successfully capture human voice frequencies between 200Hz and 2000Hz, making it possible to reconstruct the majority of conversational audio spoken near the device.
Attack Mechanics and Threat Model
While the raw signal captured by the mouse sensor is plagued by quantization noise and non-uniform sampling, researchers have developed a processing sequence that dramatically enhances audio clarity.
Using datasets such as VCTK and AudioMNIST, the attack achieved a Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SI-SNR) improvement of +19dB and attained an automated speaker recognition accuracy of 80%.
Human testers in controlled environments produced a word error rate as low as 16.79%.
This vulnerability is especially troubling given the widespread adoption of affordable, high-performance mice, many retailing for less than $50.
The threat model targets open-source and creative applications where rapid or high-frequency mouse data collection appears legitimate.
Video games and certain creative software applications, often equipped with networking code, can serve as delivery vehicles for injecting the exploit and surreptitiously exfiltrating harvested data.
The Mic-E-Mouse attack pipeline operates invisibly to most users.
Attackers require only a vulnerable mouse and compromised software deployed on a target system, which can include even legitimate web-based applications.
Once data is recorded, attackers can process and analyze it offline, rendering detection especially difficult.
This novel discovery highlights a previously unknown surveillance vector, turning ubiquitous input devices into potential privacy threats for individuals and organizations.
As manufacturing advances drive down the cost and increase the adoption of sensitive sensors, the exposure to such attacks will likely grow.
| CVE ID | Description | Affected Devices | Attack Prerequisites | Impact | CVSS 3.1 Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pending (Mic-E-Mouse) | Physical access to a vulnerable mouse, compromised software on the target | Modern consumer mice with advanced optical sensors | Physical access to a vulnerable mouse, compromised software on target | Audio surveillance, data exfiltration, privacy breach | High (estimate 8.2) |
The rise of Mic-E-Mouse signals an urgent need for heightened vigilance and new hardware security standards, as even the most mundane peripherals may now serve as gateways for sophisticated attacks.
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