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CAPEC-189

Black Box Reverse Engineering

Low severityStandard pattern

An adversary discovers the structure, function, and composition of a type of computer software through black box analysis techniques. 'Black Box' methods involve interacting with the software indirectly, in the absence of direct access to the executable object. Such analysis typically involves interacting with the software at the boundaries of where the software interfaces with a larger execution environment, such as input-output vectors, libraries, or APIs. Black Box Reverse Engineering also refers to gathering physical side effects of a hardware device, such as electromagnetic radiation or sounds.

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Show the promptExplain the attack pattern CAPEC-189: Black Box Reverse Engineering: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/189.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/189?via=ask-ai-copy, which lists recent CVEs with the weaknesses it exploits. Cite the sources.

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Resources required

  • Black box methods require (at minimum) the ability to interact with the functional boundaries where the software communicates with a larger processing environment, such as inter-process communication on a host operating system, or via networking protocols.

Weaknesses it exploits

  • CWE-203 Observable Discrepancy
  • CWE-1255 Comparison Logic is Vulnerable to Power Side-Channel Attacks
  • CWE-1300 Improper Protection of Physical Side Channels

Recent CVEs with these weaknesses

  1. –CVE-2026-86532

    The bundled JAAS login modules leak whether a username exists and compare credentials in a non-constant-time manner. A remote unauthenticated attacker can enumerate valid accounts and may infer credential material through timing analysis. …

  2. 2.3CVE-2026-124425

    Parse Server 8.6.109 before 8.6.116 and 9.10.6-alpha.1 before 9.10.7-alpha.2 contains an information disclosure vulnerability in which create or update responses mark fields as deleted based on stored values the caller cannot read. Attacke…

  3. 7.1CVE-2026-19134

    A vulnerability in OpenText OpenText Directory Services (OTDS) allows Black Box Reverse Engineering. This issue affects OpenText Directory Services (OTDS): from 22.1 to 26.2

  4. 5.3CVE-2026-103021

    OpenEMR is a free and open source electronic health records and medical practice management application. From 6.0.0 until 8.3.0, interface/globals.php uses the unauthenticated authUser login parameter to populate temp_authuserid and load t…

  5. –CVE-2026-121223

    Observable discrepancy in Media in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 allowed a remote attacker to leak cross-origin data via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)

  6. 5.3CVE-2026-121187

    Observable discrepancy in Paint in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 allowed a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium)

  7. 6.5CVE-2026-121138

    Observable discrepancy in CORS in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 allowed a remote attacker to obtain cross-origin data via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Low)

  8. 5.3CVE-2026-121130

    Observable discrepancy in Forms in Google Chrome prior to 157.0.8103.38 allowed a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Low)

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