CAPEC Details
Name Spoof Open-Source Software Metadata
Likelyhood of attack Typical severity
Medium High
Summary An adversary spoofs open-source software metadata in an attempt to masquerade malicious software as popular, maintained, and trusted.
Prerequisites Identification of a popular open-source component whose metadata is to be spoofed.
Solutions Before downloading open-source software, perform precursory metadata checks to determine the author(s), frequency of updates, when the software was last updated, and if the software is widely leveraged. Within package managers, look for conflicting or non-unique repository references to determine if multiple packages share the same repository reference. Reference vulnerability databases to determine if the software contains known vulnerabilities. Only download open-source software from reputable hosting sites or package managers. Only download open-source software that has been adequately signed by the developer(s). For repository commits/tags, look for the "Verified" status and for developers leveraging "Vigilant Mode" (GitHub) or similar modes. After downloading open-source software, ensure integrity values have not changed. Before executing or incorporating the software, leverage automated testing techniques (e.g., static and dynamic analysis) to determine if the software behaves maliciously.
Related Weaknesses
CWE ID Description
CWE-494 Download of Code Without Integrity Check
Related CAPECS
CAPEC ID Description
CAPEC-184 An attacker initiates a series of events designed to cause a user, program, server, or device to perform actions which undermine the integrity of software code, device data structures, or device firmware, achieving the modification of the target's integrity to achieve an insecure state.
CAPEC-444 An adversary modifies a technology, product, or component during its development to acheive a negative impact once the system is deployed. The goal of the adversary is to modify the system in such a way that the negative impact can be leveraged when the system is later deployed. Development alteration attacks may include attacks that insert malicious logic into the system's software, modify or replace hardware components, and other attacks which negatively impact the system during development. These attacks generally require insider access to modify source code or to tamper with hardware components. The product is then delivered to the user where the negative impact can be leveraged at a later time.
CAPEC-630 An adversary registers a domain name with at least one character different than a trusted domain. A TypoSquatting attack takes advantage of instances where a user mistypes a URL (e.g. www.goggle.com) or not does visually verify a URL before clicking on it (e.g. phishing attack). As a result, the user is directed to an adversary-controlled destination. TypoSquatting does not require an attack against the trusted domain or complicated reverse engineering.
CAPEC-690 An adversary alters the metadata of a resource (e.g., file, directory, repository, etc.) to present a malicious resource as legitimate/credible.
Taxonomy: ATTACK
Entry ID Entry Name
1195.001 Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Dependencies and Development Tools
1195.002 Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain