Malware married to software in undetectable attack

  • 20 August 2014
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By Richard Chirgwin, 20 Aug 2014
 
Be thankful it's only a proof-of-concept of a hack: German researchers have shown that Internet software distribution mechanisms can be turned into virus vectors, without modifying the original code.
The Ruhr University boffins – Felix Gröbert, Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi and Marcel Winandy – is an on-the-fly mechanism for injecting code into a download. As they write in their paper (PDF) hosted at PacketStorm:
 “Our algorithm deploys virus infection routines and network redirection attacks, without requiring to modify the application itself. This allows to even infect executables with a embedded signature when the signature is not automatically verified before execution.”
They use what they call a binder to concatenate the original application, the binder, and the malicious code. “Upon starting the infected application the binder is started. It parses its own file for additional embedded executable files, reconstructs and executes them, optionally invisible for the user,” they write.
Since the application is intact, “one can attach malware even to an executable with a embedded signature and still succeed to execute the malware under certain circumstances”.
The two components of the proof-of-concept are called Cyanid (to fetch, modify and filter the HTTP downloads) and Calcium, the binder that infects the binaries.
A successful attack depends most of all on the ability to redirect traffic, as shown below.
http://regmedia.co.uk/2014/08/20/redirect_attack.pngTraffic redirection plus malware injection equals trouble. Image: Ruhr University
 
The Register/ full article here/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/20/malware_married_to_software_in_undetectable_attack/

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