October 2020 Summaries

Detectify Surface Monitoring enables swift identification and reporting of high-severity security vulnerabilities, achieving rapid dissemination to customers within 25 minutes of discovery. Led by Tom Hudson, Detectify's security team has implemented a test to identify vulnerabilities such as an Arbitrary File Read in VMware vCenter, emphasizing the importance of quick communication to prevent breaches. The platform leverages the Detectify Crowdsource network, which consists of 250 top ethical hackers who submit vulnerabilities to the bug bounty platform for assessment and integration into Detectify's products. This approach automates and scales vulnerability knowledge, providing customers with daily updates and protection against the latest threats. By utilizing a combination of automation and crowdsourced insights, Detectify aims to keep businesses protected from emerging vulnerabilities, ensuring timely reports and remediation guidance while conserving time and resources for users.

James Kettle, known for his research in web cache vulnerabilities, introduced new techniques for exploiting web cache poisoning called Web Cache Entanglement at the Black Hat USA event. This approach leverages "keyed" components, such as the Host header and request line, due to how web servers process requests, allowing attackers to manipulate caches and serve harmful responses. The methodology involves selecting a cache oracle, identifying transformations in cache key handling, and exploiting vulnerabilities through gadget chaining, which can turn reflected XSS into stored XSS or exploit dynamic content. Kettle emphasizes the overlooked security risks in web caches, urging developers to treat all vulnerabilities seriously, avoid rewriting cache keys, and patch even low-risk vulnerabilities.