CAPEC-46: Overflow Variables and Tags
This type of attack leverages the use of tags or variables from a formatted configuration data to cause buffer overflow. The adversary crafts a malicious HTML page or configuration file that includes oversized strings, thus causing an overflow.
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Overview
CAPEC-46 (Overflow Variables and Tags) is a detailed-level attack pattern catalogued by MITRE in the Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC). It describes a recurring method attackers use to exploit software weaknesses.
How the attack works
The phases an attacker typically follows to carry out this attack.
- Step 1Explore
[Identify target application] The adversary identifies a target application or program to perform the buffer overflow on. Adversaries look for applications or programs that accept formatted files, such as configuration files, as input.
- Step 2Experiment
[Find injection vector] The adversary identifies an injection vector to deliver the excessive content to the targeted application's buffer.
- Knowing the type of file that an application takes as input, the adversary takes a normal input file and modifies a single variable or tag to contain a large amount of data. If there is a crash, this means that a buffer overflow attack is possible. The adversary will keep changing single variables or tags one by one until they see a change in behavior.
- Step 3Experiment
[Craft overflow content] The adversary crafts the content to be injected. If the intent is to simply cause the software to crash, the content need only consist of an excessive quantity of random data. If the intent is to leverage the overflow for execution of arbitrary code, the adversary crafts the payload in such a way that the overwritten return address is replaced with one of the adversary's choosing.