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CAPEC-535: Malicious Gray Market Hardware

Attack Pattern ID: 535
Abstraction: Detailed
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+ Description
An attacker maliciously alters hardware components that will be sold on the gray market, allowing for victim disruption and compromise when the victim needs replacement hardware components for systems where the parts are no longer in regular supply from original suppliers, or where the hardware components from the attacker seems to be a great benefit from a cost perspective.
+ Likelihood Of Attack

Low

+ Typical Severity

High

+ Relationships
Section HelpThis 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.
NatureTypeIDName
ChildOfDetailed Attack PatternDetailed Attack Pattern - A detailed level attack pattern in CAPEC provides a low level of detail, typically leveraging a specific technique and targeting a specific technology, and expresses a complete execution flow. Detailed attack patterns are more specific than meta attack patterns and standard attack patterns and often require a specific protection mechanism to mitigate actual attacks. A detailed level attack pattern often will leverage a number of different standard level attack patterns chained together to accomplish a goal.531Hardware Component Substitution
Section HelpThis table shows the views that this attack pattern belongs to and top level categories within that view.
+ Prerequisites
Physical access to a gray market reseller's hardware components supply, or the ability to appear as a gray market reseller to the victim's buyer.
+ Skills Required
[Level: High]
Able to develop and manufacture malicious hardware components that perform the same functions and processes as their non-malicious counterparts.
+ Mitigations
Purchase only from authorized resellers.
Validate serial numbers from multiple sources
+ Example Instances
An attacker develops co-processor boards with malicious capabilities that are technically the same as a manufacturer's expensive upgrade to their flagship system. The victim has installed the manufacturer's base system without the expensive upgrade. The attacker contacts the victim and states they have the co-processor boards at a drastically-reduced price, falsely stating they were acquired from a bankruptcy liquidation of a company that had purchased them from the manufacturer. The victim after hearing the drastically reduced price decides to take advantage of the situation and purchases the upgrades from the attacker, and installs them. This allows the attacker to further compromise the victim.
+ Taxonomy Mappings
Section HelpCAPEC 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-439] John F. Miller. "Supply Chain Attack Framework and Attack Patterns". The MITRE Corporation. 2013. <http://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/publications/supply-chain-attack-framework-14-0228.pdf>.
+ Content History
Submissions
Submission DateSubmitterOrganization
2014-06-23
(Version 2.6)
CAPEC Content TeamThe MITRE Corporation
Modifications
Modification DateModifierOrganization
2015-11-09
(Version 2.7)
CAPEC Content TeamThe MITRE Corporation
Updated Examples-Instances, Related_Attack_Patterns, Typical_Likelihood_of_Exploit
2022-02-22
(Version 3.7)
CAPEC Content TeamThe MITRE Corporation
Updated Mitigations
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Page Last Updated or Reviewed: July 31, 2018