CAPEC-442
Infected Software
An adversary adds malicious logic, often in the form of a computer virus, to otherwise benign software. This logic is often hidden from the user of the software and works behind the scenes to achieve negative impacts. Many times, the malicious logic is inserted into empty space between legitimate code, and is then called when the software is executed. This pattern of attack focuses on software already fielded and used in operation as opposed to software that is still under development and part of the supply chain.
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Explain the attack pattern CAPEC-442: Infected Software: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/442.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/442?via=ask-ai-copy, which lists recent CVEs with the weaknesses it exploits. Cite the sources.Opens a third-party assistant; its answer is its own, not cve.bz's. The prompt holds only this attack pattern's id and public links.
Prerequisites
Access to the software currently deployed at a victim location. This access is often obtained by leveraging another attack pattern to gain permissions that the adversary wouldn't normally have.
Consequences
| Impact | Affects | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Execute Unauthorized Commands | Authorization |
Mitigations
Leverage anti-virus products to detect and quarantine software with known virus.
Weaknesses it exploits
- CWE-506 Embedded Malicious Code
Recent CVEs with these weaknesses
- 9.8CVE-2026-111862
Rank Math SEO PRO for WordPress is affected by a supply-chain compromise in a subset of version 3.0.123 packages downloaded or updated between October 15, 2026 at 20:02 UTC and October 16, 2026 at 07:12 UTC. Rank Math states that the affec…
- 9.8CVE-2026-97230
IO::Socket::SSL::SelfCertificate versions 1.00 for Perl contains malware which executes Python code from an obfuscated URL. The generate_certificate runs a Python script saved as a certificate file. The pyhton script attempts to retrieve…
- 7.8CVE-2026-95831
Crypt::SelfCertificate versions from 1.01 through 1.05 for Perl contains malware which executes Python code from an obfuscated URL. The generate_certificate runs a Python script saved as a certificate file. The pyhton script attempts to …
- 9.3CVE-2026-74232
Zbtlink L3_V2_8 firmware 3.0.0.4.528, Zbtlink WE826-T2 firmware 19.1101, Zbtlink ZBT-7628 firmware 1.0.0.2.007, Zbtlink ZBT-ZBT7621 firmware 1.0.0.3.001, MoreQuick MQAC-7620, MQAC-7620A, MQAP-7620, MQAP-7620A, and MQAP-7628 firmware 1.0.0.…
- 9.8CVE-2026-77651
The arrayref crate 0.3.10 for Rust can trigger execution of malicious code when compiling a project that uses the crate, because it has a rogue dependency that registers with a command-and-control server to offer arbitrary code execution.
- 9.8CVE-2026-77650
The append-only-vec crate 0.1.9 for Rust can trigger execution of malicious code when compiling a project that uses the crate, because it has a rogue dependency that registers with a command-and-control server to offer arbitrary code execu…
- 9.8CVE-2026-77649
The internment crate 0.8.7 for Rust can trigger execution of malicious code when compiling a project that uses the crate, because it has a rogue dependency that registers with a command-and-control server to offer arbitrary code execution.
- 9.3CVE-2026-73533
Ninja Tables Pro 5.2.11 contains an embedded malicious code vulnerability introduced via a tampered plugin build served through a decommissioned update server. The tampered build introduced a rogue PHP file (app/Library/updater/NinjaTableD…
The newest records naming one of them. Each weakness's page lists them all.
Related attack patterns
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