CAPEC-632

Homograph Attack via Homoglyphs
Low
Medium
Draft
2015-11-09
00h00 +00:00
2023-01-24
00h00 +00:00
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Descriptions CAPEC

An adversary registers a domain name containing a homoglyph, leading the registered domain to appear the same as a trusted domain. A homograph attack leverages the fact that different characters among various character sets look the same to the user. Homograph attacks must generally be combined with other attacks, such as phishing attacks, in order to direct Internet traffic to the adversary-controlled destinations.

Informations CAPEC

Execution Flow

1) Explore

[Determine target website] The adversary first determines which website to impersonate, generally one that is trusted and receives a consistent amount of traffic.

Technique
  • Research popular or high traffic websites.
2) Experiment

[Impersonate trusted domain] In order to impersonate the trusted domain, the adversary needs to register the URL containing the homoglpyh character(s).

Technique
  • Register the Homograph domain.
3) Exploit

[Deceive user into visiting domain] Finally, the adversary needs to deceive a user into visiting the Homograph domain.

Technique
  • Execute a phishing attack and send a user an e-mail convincing the to click on a link leading the user to the malicious domain.

Prerequisites

An adversary requires knowledge of popular or high traffic domains, that could be used to deceive potential targets.

Skills Required

Adversaries must be able to register DNS hostnames/URL’s.

Mitigations

Authenticate all servers and perform redundant checks when using DNS hostnames.
Utilize browsers that can warn users if URLs contain characters from different character sets.

Related Weaknesses

CWE-ID Weakness Name

CWE-1007

 Insufficient Visual Distinction of Homoglyphs Presented to User
The product displays information or identifiers to a user, but the display mechanism does not make it easy for the user to distinguish between visually similar or identical glyphs (homoglyphs), which may cause the user to misinterpret a glyph and perform an unintended, insecure action.

Submission

Name Organization Date Date release
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2015-11-09 +00:00

Modifications

Name Organization Date Comment
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2018-07-31 +00:00 Updated Attack_Phases
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2019-04-04 +00:00 Updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2020-12-17 +00:00 Updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2022-09-29 +00:00 Updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation 2023-01-24 +00:00 Updated Related_Weaknesses