| Name |
Hiding Malicious Data or Code within Files |
|
| Likelyhood of attack |
Typical severity |
| Low |
High |
|
| Summary |
Files on various operating systems can have a complex format which allows for the storage of other data, in addition to its contents. Often this is metadata about the file, such as a cached thumbnail for an image file. Unless utilities are invoked in a particular way, this data is not visible during the normal use of the file. It is possible for an attacker to store malicious data or code using these facilities, which would be difficult to discover. |
| Prerequisites |
The operating system must support a file system that allows for alternate data storage for a file. |
| Solutions | Many tools are available to search for the hidden data. Scan regularly for such data using one of these tools. |
| Related CAPECS |
|
CAPEC ID
|
Description
|
| CAPEC-165 |
An attacker modifies file contents or attributes (such as extensions or names) of files in a manner to cause incorrect processing by an application. Attackers use this class of attacks to cause applications to enter unstable states, overwrite or expose sensitive information, and even execute arbitrary code with the application's privileges. This class of attacks differs from attacks on configuration information (even if file-based) in that file manipulation causes the file processing to result in non-standard behaviors, such as buffer overflows or use of the incorrect interpreter. Configuration attacks rely on the application interpreting files correctly in order to insert harmful configuration information. Likewise, resource location attacks rely on controlling an application's ability to locate files, whereas File Manipulation attacks do not require the application to look in a non-default location, although the two classes of attacks are often combined. |
|
| Taxonomy: ATTACK |
|
Entry ID
|
Entry Name
|
| 1027.003 |
Obfuscated Files or Information:Steganography |
| 1218.001 |
Signed Binary Proxy Execution:Compiled HTML File |
| 1220 |
XSL Script Processing |
|