CAPEC-147: XML Ping of the Death
Description
An attacker initiates a resource depletion attack where a large number of small XML messages are delivered at a sufficiently rapid rate to cause a denial of service or crash of the target. Transactions such as repetitive SOAP transactions can deplete resources faster than a simple flooding attack because of the additional resources used by the SOAP protocol and the resources necessary to process SOAP messages. The transactions used are immaterial as long as they cause resource utilization on the target. In other words, this is a normal flooding attack augmented by using messages that will require extra processing on the target.
- Likelihood of attack
- Low
- Typical severity
- Medium
- Abstraction
- DetailedA low-level, detailed pattern, often for a particular technology.
Mechanism of attack: Abuse Existing Functionality
Prerequisites
- The target must receive and process XML transactions.
Skills required
- LowTo send small XML messages
- HighTo use distributed network to launch the attack
Consequences
- Availability
Resource Consumption
DoS: resource consumption (other)
Mitigations
- Design: Build throttling mechanism into the resource allocation. Provide for a timeout mechanism for allocated resources whose transaction does not complete within a specified interval.
- Implementation: Provide for network flow control and traffic shaping to control access to the resources.