COMMON ATTACK PATTERN ENUMERATION AND CLASSIFICATIONLive MITRE record

CAPEC-533

Malicious Manual Software Update

An attacker introduces malicious code to the victim's system by altering the payload of a software update, allowing for additional compromise or site disruption at the victim location. These manual, or user-assisted attacks, vary from requiring the user to download and run an executable, to as streamlined as tricking the user to click a URL. Attacks which aim at penetrating a specific network infrastructure often rely upon secondary attack methods to achieve the desired impact. Spamming, for example, is a common method employed as an secondary attack vector. Thus the attacker has in their arsenal a choice of initial attack vectors ranging from traditional SMTP/POP/IMAP spamming and its varieties, to web-application mechanisms which commonly implement both chat and rich HTML messaging within the user interface.

Abstraction

Detailed

Typical severity

High

Likelihood of attack

Low

Understand the attack

What is this attack pattern?

An attacker introduces malicious code to the victim's system by altering the payload of a software update, allowing for additional compromise or site disruption at the victim location. These manual, or user-assisted attacks, vary from requiring the user to download and run an executable, to as streamlined as tricking the user to click a URL. Attacks which aim at penetrating a specific network infrastructure often rely upon secondary attack methods to achieve the desired impact. Spamming, for example, is a common method employed as an secondary attack vector. Thus the attacker has in their arsenal a choice of initial attack vectors ranging from traditional SMTP/POP/IMAP spamming and its varieties, to web-application mechanisms which commonly implement both chat and rich HTML messaging within the user interface.

Requirements

What does the attack require?

Prerequisites

  • Advanced knowledge about the download and update installation processes.
  • Advanced knowledge about the deployed system and its various software subcomponents and processes.

Skills required

  • High: Able to develop malicious code that can be used on the victim's system while maintaining normal functionality.

Resources required

Not stated in the MITRE record.

Defence

How is it prevented and mitigated?

1
Only accept software updates from an official source.

Real world

MITRE example instances

Example instance 1Detail
An email campaign was initiated, targetting victims of a ransomware attack. The email claimed to be a patch to address the ransomware attack, but was instead an attachment that caused the Cobalt Strike tools to be installed, which enabled further attacks.