On many occasions, vulnerabilities arise that can put our equipment and systems at risk. Bugs that appear and can be exploited by hackers. In this article we echo EtherOops , a new attack that allows a cybercriminal to exploit an error in the Ethernet cables. This way you could bypass the firewall and NAT .
EtherOops, a new attack on Ethernet cables
As we say, EtherOops is a new attack that hackers can carry out. It is based on faults in the Ethernet cables . If exploited successfully, they could bypass the firewall and NAT, thus putting privacy and security at stake.
According to security researchers, this was not considered exploitable until now. However it is possible. This could happen if the victim’s network uses faulty Ethernet cables.
How does this attack work? The Armis security research group described the Etheroops attack as primarily a packet- to- packet attack. These attacks are generally used when network packets are placed inside each other. Allows you to hide malicious code within packets and bypass the firewall or NAT. A package has both external and internal parts. A faulty Ethernet cable could cause these problems.
For this to happen, the researchers mention that the following must be present:
- Sending legitimate packets through firewall or NAT.
- Bit shifts, something that can happen if there are bad cables.
- Check the internal MAC address
Proximity attack
According to the researchers, a faulty Ethernet cable has an electromagnetic interference (EMI) background. That is why the researchers conducted an experiment, which is a wire that is not shielded, which conducts an attenuated signal, and this signal becomes susceptible to higher levels of EMI.
There may be some specific devices that transmit an electromagnetic pulse that can create this type of disturbance which are the EMP weapon. This device uses broadband vibrations between 100 MHz and 2 GHz to interfere with any wiring up to 5 centimeters.
Put into practical use, a hacker who exploits this vulnerability could direct the victim to a malicious website controlled by them.
In short, we are facing a new type of attack that they have called EtherOops and that could affect users who have defective Ethernet cables. As we know, on many occasions vulnerabilities occur that can be exploited by hackers to commit crimes. It is very important that we are always aware of this and keep our equipment correctly updated and in good condition. In this way we will avoid problems that could compromise us.