CAPEC-691
Spoof Open-Source Software Metadata
An adversary spoofs open-source software metadata in an attempt to masquerade malicious software as popular, maintained, and trusted.
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Due to open-source software's popularity, it serves as a desirable attack-vector for adversaries since a single malicious component may result in the exploitation of numerous systems/applications. Adversaries may, therefore, spoof the metadata pertaining to the open-source software in order to trick victims into downloading and using their malicious software. Examples of metadata that may be spoofed include:
- Owner of the software (e.g., repository or package owner)
- Author(s) of repository commits
- Frequency of repository commits
- Date/Time of repository commits
- Package or Repository "stars"
Once the malicious software component has been integrated into an underlying application or executed on a system, the adversary is ultimately able to achieve numerous negative technical impacts within the system/application. This often occurs without any indication of compromise.
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Explain the attack pattern CAPEC-691: Spoof Open-Source Software Metadata: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/691.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/691?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
Identification of a popular open-source component whose metadata is to be spoofed.
Skills required
- Medium skill
Ability to spoof a variety of software metadata to convince victims the source is trusted.
Consequences
| Impact | Affects | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Modify Data | Integrity | |
| Hide Activities | Accountability | |
| Execute Unauthorized Commands, Alter Execution Logic, Gain Privileges | Access Control, Authorization |
Mitigations
Before downloading open-source software, perform precursory metadata checks to determine the author(s), frequency of updates, when the software was last updated, and if the software is widely leveraged.
Within package managers, look for conflicting or non-unique repository references to determine if multiple packages share the same repository reference.
Reference vulnerability databases to determine if the software contains known vulnerabilities.
Only download open-source software from reputable hosting sites or package managers.
Only download open-source software that has been adequately signed by the developer(s). For repository commits/tags, look for the "Verified" status and for developers leveraging "Vigilant Mode" (GitHub) or similar modes.
After downloading open-source software, ensure integrity values have not changed.
Before executing or incorporating the software, leverage automated testing techniques (e.g., static and dynamic analysis) to determine if the software behaves maliciously.
Weaknesses it exploits
- CWE-494 Download of Code Without Integrity Check
Recent CVEs with these weaknesses
- 7.2CVE-2026-118791
The application implements software update functionality without adequate authenticity and integrity validation, allowing update packages to be accepted without sufficient cryptographic verification.
- 6.3CVE-2026-112170
The software downloads upgrade files without performing integrity checks, allowing the installation of tampered updates.
- 9.2CVE-2026-118462
Update components download and execute code without proper authenticity verification, relying on ignored hashes or forgeable checksums. Some update paths also permit archive traversal or script execution.
- 2.0CVE-2026-123508
Vikunja before 2.7.1 contains a supply chain vulnerability in its mage release targets that fetch the xgo module and Docker image by mutable latest references. Attackers who compromise the upstream xgo module, image, or registry can inject…
- 7.5CVE-2026-104657
Missing integrity verification in the Progress Software Fiddler Download and Setup Skill on Linux, macOS, and Windows which allows an attacker to compromise or influence a release component and execute attacker-controlled code when a user …
- 2.1CVE-2026-121750
Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.5 through 0.40.8, `nvm_download_artifact` downloads a release archive directly to its final path in `$NVM_DIR/.cache` a…
- 8.6CVE-2026-110022
The PFI plugin framework deploys executable assemblies (DLLs) from a signed plugin package into the local plugin repository and loads them via reflection, but the deployment routine processes archive entries that were never covered by the …
- 7.4CVE-2026-92092
A flaw was found in openshift-ansible. The installer container's `run` script downloads and executes remote inventory and dynamic scripts without integrity verification. A remote attacker, by performing a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack or…
The newest records naming one of them. Each weakness's page lists them all.
Related attack patterns
Examples
An adversary provides a malicious open-source library, claiming to provide extended logging features and func…
An adversary provides a malicious open-source library, claiming to provide extended logging features and functionality, and spoofs the metadata with that of a widely used legitimate library. The adversary then tricks victims into including this library in their underlying application. Once the malicious software is incorporated into the application, the adversary is able to manipulate and exfiltrate log data.
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