CAPEC - CAPEC-320: TCP Timestamp Probe (Version 3.9)


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CAPEC-320: TCP Timestamp Probe

Attack Pattern ID: 320

Abstraction: Detailed

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Description

This OS fingerprinting probe examines the remote server's implementation of TCP timestamps. Not all operating systems implement timestamps within the TCP header, but when timestamps are used then this provides the attacker with a means to guess the operating system of the target. The attacker begins by probing any active TCP service in order to get response which contains a TCP timestamp. Different Operating systems update the timestamp value using different intervals. This type of analysis is most accurate when multiple timestamp responses are received and then analyzed. TCP timestamps can be found in the TCP Options field of the TCP header.

Likelihood Of Attack

Medium

Typical Severity

Low

Relationships

This table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern. These relationships are defined as ChildOf and ParentOf, and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as CanFollow, PeerOf, and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar attack patterns that the user may want to explore.

Nature	Type	ID	Name
ChildOf	Standard Attack Pattern - A standard level attack pattern in CAPEC is focused on a specific methodology or technique used in an attack. It is often seen as a singular piece of a fully executed attack. A standard attack pattern is meant to provide sufficient details to understand the specific technique and how it attempts to accomplish a desired goal. A standard level attack pattern is a specific type of a more abstract meta level attack pattern.	312	Active OS Fingerprinting

This table shows the views that this attack pattern belongs to and top level categories within that view.

View Name	Top Level Categories
Domains of Attack	Software
Mechanisms of Attack	Collect and Analyze Information

Execution Flow

Explore

Determine if timestamps are present.: The adversary sends a probe packet to the remote host to identify if timestamps are present.

Experiment

Record and analyze timestamp values.: If the remote host is using timestamp, obtain several timestamps, analyze them and compare them to known values.

Techniques
The adversary sends several requests and records the timestamp values.
The adversary analyzes the timestamp values and determines an average increments per second in the timestamps for the target.
The adversary compares this result to a database of known TCP timestamp increments for a possible match.

Prerequisites

The ability to monitor and interact with network communications.Access to at least one host, and the privileges to interface with the network interface card.The target OS must support the TCP timestamp option in order to obtain a fingerprint.

Resources Required

Any type of active probing that involves non-standard packet headers requires the use of raw sockets, which is not available on particular operating systems (Microsoft Windows XP SP 2, for example). Raw socket manipulation on Unix/Linux requires root privileges.

A tool capable of sending and receiving packets from a remote system.

Consequences

This table specifies different individual consequences associated with the attack pattern. The Scope identifies the security property that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in their attack. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a pattern will be used to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.

Scope	Impact	Likelihood
Confidentiality	Read Data
Confidentiality Access Control Authorization	Bypass Protection Mechanism

Related Weaknesses

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. If multiple weaknesses are associated with the attack pattern, then any of the weaknesses (but not necessarily all) may be present for the attack to be successful. Each related weakness is identified by a CWE identifier.

CWE-ID	Weakness Name
200	Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Taxonomy Mappings

CAPEC mappings to ATT&CK techniques leverage an inheritance model to streamline and minimize direct CAPEC/ATT&CK mappings. Inheritance of a mapping is indicated by text stating that the parent CAPEC has relevant ATT&CK mappings. Note that the ATT&CK Enterprise Framework does not use an inheritance model as part of the mapping to CAPEC.

Relevant to the ATT&CK taxonomy mapping (see parent )

References

[REF-33] Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray and George Kurtz. "Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions". Chapter 2: Scanning, pg. 56. 6th Edition. McGraw Hill. 2009.

[REF-128] Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Processing Techniques Office and Information Sciences Institute University of Southern California. "RFC793 - Transmission Control Protocol". Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 1981-09. <http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc793.html>.

[REF-212] Gordon "Fyodor" Lyon. "Nmap Network Scanning: The Official Nmap Project Guide to Network Discovery and Security Scanning". Chapter 8. Remote OS Detection. 3rd "Zero Day" Edition,. Insecure.com LLC. 2008.

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2014-06-23 (Version 2.6)	CAPEC Content Team	The MITRE Corporation

Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2017-05-01 (Version 2.10)	CAPEC Content Team	The MITRE Corporation
Updated Attack_Motivation-Consequences, Attack_Prerequisites, Description, Related_Attack_Patterns, Resources_Required, Typical_Likelihood_of_Exploit
2018-07-31 (Version 2.12)	CAPEC Content Team	The MITRE Corporation
Updated Attack_Phases, Description, Description Summary, Related_Weaknesses

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Page Last Updated or Reviewed: July 31, 2018


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Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

CAPEC-320: TCP Timestamp Probe