CAPEC-16: Dictionary-based Password Attack
Description
Extended Description
For example, using a different character encoding might cause dangerous text to be treated as safe text. Alternatively, the attacker may use certain flags, such as file extensions, to make a target application believe that provided data should be handled using a certain interpreter when the data is not actually of the appropriate type. This can lead to bypassing protection mechanisms, forcing the target to use specific components for input processing, or otherwise causing the user's data to be handled differently than might otherwise be expected. This attack differs from Variable Manipulation in that Variable Manipulation attempts to subvert the target's processing through the value of the input while Input Data Manipulation seeks to control how the input is processed.
Severity :
High
Possibility :
Medium
Type :
Detailed
Relationships with other CAPECs
This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern.
Prerequisites
This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern.
- The system uses one factor password based authentication.
- The system does not have a sound password policy that is being enforced.
- The system does not implement an effective password throttling mechanism.
Skills required
This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern.
- Low A variety of password cracking tools and dictionaries are available to launch this type of an attack.
Taxonomy mappings
Mappings to ATT&CK, OWASP and other frameworks.
Resources required
A machine with sufficient resources for the job (e.g. CPU, RAM, HD). Applicable dictionaries are required. Also a password cracking tool or a custom script that leverages the dictionary database to launch the attack.
Related CWE
A Related Weakness relationship associates a weakness with this attack pattern. Each association implies a weakness that must exist for a given attack to be successful.
CWE-262: Not Using Password Aging
CWE-263: Password Aging with Long Expiration
CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts
CWE-308: Use of Single-factor Authentication
CWE-309: Use of Password System for Primary Authentication
CWE-521: Weak Password Requirements
CWE-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision
Visit http://capec.mitre.org/ for more details.