CAPEC-479 Malicious Root Certificate

CAPEC ID: 479

CAPEC-479 Metadata

Likelihood of Attack

Low

Typical Severity

Low

Overview

Summary

An adversary exploits a weakness in authorization and installs a new root certificate on a compromised system. Certificates are commonly used for establishing secure TLS/SSL communications within a web browser. When a user attempts to browse a website that presents a certificate that is not trusted an error message will be displayed to warn the user of the security risk. Depending on the security settings, the browser may not allow the user to establish a connection to the website. Adversaries have used this technique to avoid security warnings prompting users when compromised systems connect over HTTPS to adversary controlled web servers that spoof legitimate websites in order to collect login credentials.

Prerequisites

The adversary must have the ability to create a new root certificate.

Potential Solutions / Mitigations

No specific solutions listed.

Related Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE ID Description
CWE-284 Improper Access Control

Related CAPECs

CAPEC ID Description
CAPEC-473 An attacker generates a message or datablock that causes the recipient to believe that the message or datablock was generated and cryptographically signed by an authoritative or reputable source, misleading a victim or victim operating system into performing malicious actions.

Taxonomy Mappings

Taxonomy: ATTACK

Entry ID Entry Name
1553.004 Subvert Trust Controls:Install Root Certificate

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