CAPEC-611: BitSquatting
An adversary registers a domain name one bit different than a trusted domain. A BitSquatting attack leverages random errors in memory to direct Internet traffic to adversary-controlled destinations. BitSquatting requires no exploitation or complicated reverse engineering, and is operating system and architecture agnostic. Experimental observations show that BitSquatting popular websites could redirect non-trivial amounts of Internet traffic to a malicious entity.
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Overview
CAPEC-611 (BitSquatting) 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
[Determine target website] The adversary first determines which website to impersonate, generally one that is trusted and receives a consistent amount of traffic.
- Research popular or high traffic websites.
- Step 2Experiment
[Impersonate trusted domain] In order to impersonate the trusted domain, the adversary needs to register the BitSquatted URL.
- Register the BitSquatted domain.
- Step 3Exploit
[Wait for a user to visit the domain] Finally, the adversary simply waits for a user to be unintentionally directed to the BitSquatted domain.
- Simply wait for an error in memory to occur, redirecting the user to the malicious domain.