Today, we are announcing the inclusion of the beta version of the Western Digital 3TB My Cloud Home Personal Cloud in our upcoming Pwn2Own Austin competition. Normally, devices under test are updated to the most recent publicly available patch level. This is still the case. However, our partners over at Western Digital wanted to include their upcoming beta software release in this year’s event. Consequently, we are adding the beta version as an available target in addition to the existing current version of the NAS device.

If a contestant can get code execution on the beta release of the Western Digital 3TB My Cloud Home Personal Cloud, they will earn $45,000 (USD) and 5 Master of Pwn points. There are some significant differences between the released software version and the beta version, so we suggest contestants upgrade their systems to test their exploits prior to the contest. To get the beta version installed on your NAS, you will need to enter your email address and the MAC address of your device in this form. Within a few hours, an automated process to update the NAS will begin. The updates will take you from 7.15.1-101 (current) to 7.16.0-216 and then the beta 8.0.0-301. Please note that not all features and applications included in the current version of the software release are available in the beta version.

Again, registration for the contest closes at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 29, 2021. A full copy of the rules – including this new change – is available here. They may be changed at any time without notice. We highly encourage potential entrants to read the rules thoroughly and completely should they choose to participate. If you have any questions, please forward them to [email protected].

We believe exploiting the beta version of this software will not be trivial, but we certainly hope some tries. We look forward to seeing all the attempts to learn about the latest exploits and attack techniques on these devices.

Good luck, and we’ll see you in Austin.