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Capec-691 Detail

Spoof Open-Source Software Metadata

Standard Social Engineering Supply Chain Software Likelihood: Medium Typical Severity: High

Parents: 690

Children: 692 693

Description

An adversary spoofs open-source software metadata in an attempt to masquerade malicious software as popular, maintained, and trusted.

Extended Description

Due to open-source software's popularity, it serves as a desirable attack- vector for adversaries since a single malicious component may result in the exploitation of numerous systems/applications. Adversaries may, therefore, spoof the metadata pertaining to the open-source software in order to trick victims into downloading and using their malicious software. Examples of metadata that may be spoofed include: Owner of the software (e.g., repository or package owner) Author(s) of repository commits Frequency of repository commits Date/Time of repository commits Package or Repository "stars" Once the malicious software component has been integrated into an underlying application or executed on a system, the adversary is ultimately able to achieve numerous negative technical impacts within the system/application. This often occurs without any indication of compromise.
External ID Source Link Description
CAPEC-691 capec https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/691.html
CWE-494 cwe http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/494.html
T1195.001 ATTACK https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1195/001 Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Dependencies and Development Tools
T1195.002 ATTACK https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1195/002 Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain

Not present

  1. Identification of a popular open-source component whose metadata is to be spoofed.

Not present

Medium
Ability to spoof a variety of software metadata to convince victims the source is trusted.
Integrity Authorization Access Control Accountability
Modify Data Execute Unauthorized Commands Execute Unauthorized Commands Hide Activities
Alter Execution Logic Alter Execution Logic
Gain Privileges Gain Privileges
  1. An adversary provides a malicious open-source library, claiming to provide extended logging features and functionality, and spoofs the metadata with that of a widely used legitimate library. The adversary then tricks victims into including this library in their underlying application. Once the malicious software is incorporated into the application, the adversary is able to manipulate and exfiltrate log data.