Within your personal blog you have reported step by step all the details of the analysis on the CVE 2018-12421 vulnerability. What prompted you to do it?
All companies that want to introduce or strengthen their cybersecurity posture, first need to have a clear understanding of their existing security issues, information that is made available through the Vulnerability Testing. An experienced Team of Etichal Hackers, with a wide range of technical knowledge, can carry out an in-depth analysis of all possible vulnerabilities.
If the IT system is vulnerable to a known vulnerability, it will be part of the CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) database, classified with a specific CVE identification ID and attributable to a specific PoC (Proof of Concept). The PoC is made publicly available by the vulnerability discoverer to enable the whole community to immediately exploit the vulnerability and compromise the target being tested (server, website or operating system).
Unfortunately, the application I was testing was vulnerable to one of the known vulnerabilities, CVE 2018-12421, but the PoC was not present. After completing the missing analysis, I knew I couldn’t repeat the mistake as the discoverer.
In our world, sharing information and collaborating with the community is an ethical duty, the only way to evolve and achieve social progress. Whenever possible, each of us should work towards this common goal. I could not hold back, therefore, I published the PoC on my personal blog, including all the information available about the causes of the bug.
How long does it take to analyze a vulnerability in detail and what stimulates this great curiosity?
We cannot define how long will it take before actually venturing into the analysis of a vulnerability. It can take a couple of hours, but in some cases, even a couple of days. The time is not predictable, it depends on the complexity of the vulnerability, the number of components that need to be analyzed, and the possibility of recreating the context of the vulnerable application in a simulated environment. The analysis can often become complex and therefore the experience of each individual member of the research team is a key factor in concluding relatively quickly and above all effectively.
Basically, when you undertake this type of research, the commitment is rewarded by the desire to fully understand the nature of the problem and to identify all the triggers. The results of this type of analysis is useful not only to other ethical hackers who want to exploit similar vulnerabilities, but also to other researchers who find themselves in similar situations and may find the modus operandi adopted by the team very useful to complete their research.
What is the biggest benefit of being part of a Team of Ethical Hackers, like the one we have in Cybertech?
The fortune of working in a team like ours is to be able to interact daily with highly trained colleagues, to share, compare and elaborate ideas in order to find a common solution through great teamwork. Who works alone cannot benefit from the Teamwork added value, therefore, it is often difficult to achieve certain goals. Collaboration is the gretest value in a Cybersecurity Team.
Each team member has unique skills in a specific sector. The strenght of a group, created by bringing together and coordinating different skills, allows us to face any problem with a 360-degree vision and to find better solutions with more efficency.