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Difference between revisions of "Testing for Captcha (OWASP-AT-012)"

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(Server-Side Attacks)
(WARNING: CAPTCHA protection is an ineffective security mechanism and should be perceived as a "rate limiting" protection only!)
 
(38 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
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=== WARNING: CAPTCHA protection is an ineffective security mechanism and should be perceived as a "rate limiting" protection only! ===
 
=== WARNING: CAPTCHA protection is an ineffective security mechanism and should be perceived as a "rate limiting" protection only! ===
  
Most current used CAPTCHA images can be easily cracked in a fully automated way using many commercial or opensource services. Commercial services are usually very cheap and provide a simple API for most programming languages.
+
Most current used CAPTCHA images can be easily cracked in a fully automated way using online cracking services. Commercial services are usually very cheap and provide a simple API for most programming languages.
 
<br/>
 
<br/>
'''It is not recommended to use CAPTCHA protection for security-critical applications''', in this case it is more suitable to use SMS authentication or OTP tokens instead.
+
'''In security critical applications''' it is more suitable to use '''alternative verification channels''' (SMS authentication, OTP tokens etc).
 
<br/><br/>
 
<br/><br/>
 
Example of Google reCAPTCHA cracked in 7 seconds by commercial automated cracking service:<br/>
 
Example of Google reCAPTCHA cracked in 7 seconds by commercial automated cracking service:<br/>
Line 15: Line 15:
 
'''Text: 270 35524452''' <br/>
 
'''Text: 270 35524452''' <br/>
 
<br/>
 
<br/>
Most CAPTCHA images can be cracked in 1-15 seconds, therefore CAPTCHA should be perceived as a rate limiting protection only which stops the attacker for a limited amount of time.
+
Most CAPTCHA images can be cracked in 1-15 seconds; therefore, CAPTCHA should be perceived as a rate limiting protection only which stops the attacker for a limited amount of time.
  
 
== Brief Summary ==
 
== Brief Summary ==
 
<br>
 
<br>
CAPTCHA ("Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is a type of challenge-response test used by many web applications to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.  
+
CAPTCHA ("Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is a type of challenge-response test used by web applications to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.  
 
<br>
 
<br>
  
Line 25: Line 25:
 
Despite the above-described CAPTCHA weakness, it can be still used against:
 
Despite the above-described CAPTCHA weakness, it can be still used against:
  
* automated sending of many GET/POST requests in a short time where it is undesirable (e.g., SMS/MMS/email flooding), CAPTCHA provides a rate limiting function
+
* Automated sending of many GET/POST requests in a short time where it is undesirable (e.g., SMS/MMS/email flooding), CAPTCHA provides a rate limiting function
* <strike>[https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_user_enumeration enumeration attacks] (login, registration or password reset forms are often vulnerable to enumeration attacks - without CAPTCHA the attacker can gain valid usernames, phone numbers or any other sensitive information in a short time)</strike>
+
* <strike>[https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_user_enumeration Enumeration attacks] (login, registration or password reset forms are often vulnerable to enumeration attacks - without CAPTCHA the attacker can gain valid usernames, phone numbers or any other sensitive information in a short time)</strike>
* <strike>automated creation/using of the account that should be used only by humans (e.g., creating webmail accounts, stop spamming)</strike>
+
* <strike>Automated creation/using of the account that should be used only by humans (e.g., creating webmail accounts, stop spamming)</strike>
* <strike>automated posting to blogs, forums and wikis, whether as a result of commercial promotion, or harassment and vandalism</strike>
+
* <strike>Automated posting to blogs, forums and wikis, whether as a result of commercial promotion, or harassment and vandalism</strike>
* <strike>any automated attacks that massively gain or misuse sensitive information from the application</strike>
+
* <strike>Any automated attacks that massively gain or misuse sensitive information from the application</strike>
* '''simple''' enumeration attacks, '''simple''' spambots/adbots, '''simple' DOS attacks and '''less sophisticated''' attackers
+
* '''Simple''' enumeration attacks, '''simple''' spambots/adbots, '''simple''' DOS attacks and '''less sophisticated''' attackers
 
 
In security critical applications it is more suitable to use alternative verification channels (SMS authentication, OTP etc).
 
 
<br/>
 
<br/>
  
 
'''Using CAPTCHAs as a CSRF protection is not recommended (because there are stronger [https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_CSRF_(OWASP-SM-005)#How_to_Prevent_CSRF_Vulnerabilites CSRF countermeasures]).'''
 
'''Using CAPTCHAs as a CSRF protection is not recommended (because there are stronger [https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_CSRF_(OWASP-SM-005)#How_to_Prevent_CSRF_Vulnerabilites CSRF countermeasures]).'''
  
 +
== Common CAPTCHA vulnerabilities and attacks ==
 +
 +
* '''Generated CAPTCHA is weak'''
 +
** Be aware that most current CAPTCHAs can be considered to be weak, and easily crackable using existing CAPTCHA cracking services (see below)
 +
 +
* '''Client-side storage and hidden fields'''
 +
** The value of decoded CAPTCHA is sent by the client (as a GET parameter or as a hidden field of POST form). This value is often:
 +
*** Encrypted by a simple algorithm and can be easily decrypted by observing of multiple decoded CAPTCHA values
 +
*** Hashed by a weak hash function (e.g., MD5) that can be easily broken
 +
 +
* '''The Chosen CAPTCHA text attack'''
 +
** Rarely CAPTCHA is verified on the client side or verified on the server side but generated on the client side (in javascript)
 +
* '''Arithmetic CAPTCHAs'''
 +
** If arithmetic questions are displayed in cleartext, it is trivial to bypass this CAPTCHA, just parse the HTML content, extract the arithmetic question and solve it
 +
* '''Limited set CAPTCHAs'''
 +
** If generated CAPTCHA questions have a very limited set of possible answers, it is trivial to gain all of them, solve and use them subsequently (CAPTCHA Rainbow Tables can be built using CAPTCHA cryptographic hashes and the corresponding solutions)
  
== Client-Side Attacks ==
+
* '''The Chosen CAPTCHA identifier attack'''
* Client-side storage and hidden fields
+
** Sometimes the application returns CAPTCHA to the user but does not store its ID or solution in the HTTP session (does not keep track of what ID of which CAPTCHA image is sent to the user). This ID is subsequently extracted by the application from the received HTTP request and then used to perform CAPTCHA solution lookup for verification. This behaviour can be exploited by solving a single CAPTCHA, recording its unique ID and then submitting this stored ID of the already decoded CAPTCHA over multiple requests (the ID of a CAPTCHA could be a hash of the decoded CAPTCHA or any unique identifier)
** the value of decoded CAPTCHA is sent by the client (as a GET parameter or as a hidden field of POST form). This value is often:
 
*** encrypted by simple algorithm and can be easily decrypted by observing of multiple decoded CAPTCHA values
 
*** hashed by a weak hash function (e.g., MD5) that can be easily broken
 
  
* Chosen CAPTCHA text attack
+
* '''CAPTCHA fixation'''
** rarely CAPTCHA is verified on the client side or verified on the server side, but generated on the client side (in javascript)
+
** Exploits a potential race condition in the CAPTCHA implementation relying on unique IDs for finite CAPTCHA set:
* Arithmetic CAPTCHAs
+
# Client requests a CAPTCHA from the server with a valid SESSIONID.
** if arithmetic questions are displayed in cleartext, it is trivial to bypass this CAPTCHA, just parse the HTML content, extract the arithmetic question and solve it
+
# The server picks a random CAPTCHA identifier from the finite set of CAPTCHAs it has.
* Limited set CAPTCHAs
+
# The client is redirected to another URL containing the CAPTCHA identifier from where the CAPTCHA should be retrieved.
** if generated CAPTCHA questions have a very limited set of possible answers, it is trivial to gain all of them, solve and use them subsequently
+
# The client follows the redirect and requests for a CAPTCHA image with the given identifier.
 +
# The server stores CAPTCHA identifier in the session.
 +
# CAPTCHA image is returned.
 +
** By not storing the CAPTCHA identifier in the HTTP session before sending the identifier to the client, the server exposes itself to CAPTCHA fixation attacks. An attacker can complete steps 1 to 3 and manipulate the request in step 4 to request any CAPTCHA identifier for which the correct solution is already known. Once the attacker-supplied CAPTCHA identifier is stored inside the HTTP Session at step 4, the corresponding CAPTCHA solution can be provided to bypass the protection.
 +
 
 +
* '''In-session CAPTCHA brute-forcing'''
 +
** The application does not destroy the HTTP session when the given CAPTCHA is already solved - by re-using the session ID of a known CAPTCHA it is possible to bypass another CAPTCHA protected page
  
 
== Solution ==
 
== Solution ==
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If it is implemented, the following considerations should be taken into account:
 
If it is implemented, the following considerations should be taken into account:
  
* no CAPTCHA information (except the image itself) should be stored on the client side
+
* No CAPTCHA information (except the image itself) should be stored on the client side
* the client should have no "control" over the CAPTCHA content
+
* The client should have no "control" over the CAPTCHA content
 
* CAPTCHA images should be always randomly generated without possibility to perform image preprocessing, segmentation and classification
 
* CAPTCHA images should be always randomly generated without possibility to perform image preprocessing, segmentation and classification
 
* CAPTCHA images should not be reused.
 
* CAPTCHA images should not be reused.
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* Use an intercepting fault injection proxy (e.g., [https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_WebScarab_Project WebScarab] or BurpSuite) to:
 
* Use an intercepting fault injection proxy (e.g., [https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_WebScarab_Project WebScarab] or BurpSuite) to:
** identify all parameters which are sent in addition to the decoded CAPTCHA value from the client to the server in order to check if these parameters contain encrypted or hashed values of decoded CAPTCHA and CAPTCHA ID number
+
** Identify all parameters which are sent (in addition to the decoded CAPTCHA value) from the client to the server in order to check if these parameters contain encrypted or hashed values of decoded CAPTCHA and CAPTCHA ID number
** try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old CAPTCHA ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
+
** Try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old CAPTCHA ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
** try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old session ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
+
** Try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old session ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
  
 
* Find out if similar CAPTCHAs have already been broken.
 
* Find out if similar CAPTCHAs have already been broken.
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== Gray Box testing and example ==
 
== Gray Box testing and example ==
 
Audit the application source code in order to reveal:
 
Audit the application source code in order to reveal:
* used CAPTCHA implementation and version - there are many known vulnerabilities in widely used CAPTCHA implementations, see [http://osvdb.org/search?request=captcha http://osvdb.org/search?request=captcha]
+
* Used CAPTCHA implementation and version - there are many known vulnerabilities in widely used CAPTCHA implementations, see [http://osvdb.org/search?request=captcha http://osvdb.org/search?request=captcha]
* if the application sends encrypted or hashed value from the client, verify if used encryption or hash algorithm is sufficiently strong
+
* If the application sends encrypted or hashed value from the client, verify if used encryption or hash algorithm is sufficiently strong
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
Line 84: Line 101:
 
* (Commercial) [http://www.imagetyperz.com www.imagetyperz.com]
 
* (Commercial) [http://www.imagetyperz.com www.imagetyperz.com]
 
* (Commercial) [http://www.expertdecoders.com www.expertdecoders.com]
 
* (Commercial) [http://www.expertdecoders.com www.expertdecoders.com]
 +
 +
'''Analysis tools:'''
 +
* [https://github.com/gursev/TesserCap TesserCap]
  
 
'''Articles:'''
 
'''Articles:'''
 
* [http://www.mcafee.com/au/resources/white-papers/foundstone/wp-attacking-captchas-for-fun-profit.pdf Attacking CAPTCHAs for Fun and Profit]
 
* [http://www.mcafee.com/au/resources/white-papers/foundstone/wp-attacking-captchas-for-fun-profit.pdf Attacking CAPTCHAs for Fun and Profit]
 +
* [http://www.mcafee.com/au/resources/white-papers/foundstone/wp-bypassing-captchas.pdf Bypassing CAPTCHAs by Impersonating CAPTCHA Providers]
 +
* [http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/white-papers/foundstone/wp-tessercap-visual-captcha-tool.pdf TesserCap—A Visual CAPTCHA Solving Tool]
 +
* [http://gursevkalra.blogspot.sk/2012/03/captcha-re-riding-attack.html CAPTCHA Re-Riding Attack]
 +
* [http://gursevkalra.blogspot.sk/2011/11/captcha-hax-with-tessercap.html CAPTCHA Hax With TesserCap]
 
* [http://www.slideshare.net/DefCamp/attacks-against-captchasystems Attacks Against Captcha Systems]
 
* [http://www.slideshare.net/DefCamp/attacks-against-captchasystems Attacks Against Captcha Systems]
 
* [http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/jeff.yan/google.pdf The Robustness of Google CAPTCHAs]
 
* [http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/jeff.yan/google.pdf The Robustness of Google CAPTCHAs]

Latest revision as of 02:41, 21 November 2013

This article is part of the new OWASP Testing Guide v4.
Back to the OWASP Testing Guide v4 ToC: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Testing_Guide_v4_Table_of_Contents Back to the OWASP Testing Guide Project: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Testing_Project


WARNING: CAPTCHA protection is an ineffective security mechanism and should be perceived as a "rate limiting" protection only!

Most current used CAPTCHA images can be easily cracked in a fully automated way using online cracking services. Commercial services are usually very cheap and provide a simple API for most programming languages.
In security critical applications it is more suitable to use alternative verification channels (SMS authentication, OTP tokens etc).

Example of Google reCAPTCHA cracked in 7 seconds by commercial automated cracking service:
Image2.jpeg
Price: US¢1.390
Uploaded: Sun Nov 17 20:03:13 2013
Solved: Sun Nov 17 20:03:23 2013
Text: 270 35524452

Most CAPTCHA images can be cracked in 1-15 seconds; therefore, CAPTCHA should be perceived as a rate limiting protection only which stops the attacker for a limited amount of time.

Brief Summary


CAPTCHA ("Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is a type of challenge-response test used by web applications to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.

Description of the Issue

Despite the above-described CAPTCHA weakness, it can be still used against:

  • Automated sending of many GET/POST requests in a short time where it is undesirable (e.g., SMS/MMS/email flooding), CAPTCHA provides a rate limiting function
  • Enumeration attacks (login, registration or password reset forms are often vulnerable to enumeration attacks - without CAPTCHA the attacker can gain valid usernames, phone numbers or any other sensitive information in a short time)
  • Automated creation/using of the account that should be used only by humans (e.g., creating webmail accounts, stop spamming)
  • Automated posting to blogs, forums and wikis, whether as a result of commercial promotion, or harassment and vandalism
  • Any automated attacks that massively gain or misuse sensitive information from the application
  • Simple enumeration attacks, simple spambots/adbots, simple DOS attacks and less sophisticated attackers


Using CAPTCHAs as a CSRF protection is not recommended (because there are stronger CSRF countermeasures).

Common CAPTCHA vulnerabilities and attacks

  • Generated CAPTCHA is weak
    • Be aware that most current CAPTCHAs can be considered to be weak, and easily crackable using existing CAPTCHA cracking services (see below)
  • Client-side storage and hidden fields
    • The value of decoded CAPTCHA is sent by the client (as a GET parameter or as a hidden field of POST form). This value is often:
      • Encrypted by a simple algorithm and can be easily decrypted by observing of multiple decoded CAPTCHA values
      • Hashed by a weak hash function (e.g., MD5) that can be easily broken
  • The Chosen CAPTCHA text attack
    • Rarely CAPTCHA is verified on the client side or verified on the server side but generated on the client side (in javascript)
  • Arithmetic CAPTCHAs
    • If arithmetic questions are displayed in cleartext, it is trivial to bypass this CAPTCHA, just parse the HTML content, extract the arithmetic question and solve it
  • Limited set CAPTCHAs
    • If generated CAPTCHA questions have a very limited set of possible answers, it is trivial to gain all of them, solve and use them subsequently (CAPTCHA Rainbow Tables can be built using CAPTCHA cryptographic hashes and the corresponding solutions)
  • The Chosen CAPTCHA identifier attack
    • Sometimes the application returns CAPTCHA to the user but does not store its ID or solution in the HTTP session (does not keep track of what ID of which CAPTCHA image is sent to the user). This ID is subsequently extracted by the application from the received HTTP request and then used to perform CAPTCHA solution lookup for verification. This behaviour can be exploited by solving a single CAPTCHA, recording its unique ID and then submitting this stored ID of the already decoded CAPTCHA over multiple requests (the ID of a CAPTCHA could be a hash of the decoded CAPTCHA or any unique identifier)
  • CAPTCHA fixation
    • Exploits a potential race condition in the CAPTCHA implementation relying on unique IDs for finite CAPTCHA set:
  1. Client requests a CAPTCHA from the server with a valid SESSIONID.
  2. The server picks a random CAPTCHA identifier from the finite set of CAPTCHAs it has.
  3. The client is redirected to another URL containing the CAPTCHA identifier from where the CAPTCHA should be retrieved.
  4. The client follows the redirect and requests for a CAPTCHA image with the given identifier.
  5. The server stores CAPTCHA identifier in the session.
  6. CAPTCHA image is returned.
    • By not storing the CAPTCHA identifier in the HTTP session before sending the identifier to the client, the server exposes itself to CAPTCHA fixation attacks. An attacker can complete steps 1 to 3 and manipulate the request in step 4 to request any CAPTCHA identifier for which the correct solution is already known. Once the attacker-supplied CAPTCHA identifier is stored inside the HTTP Session at step 4, the corresponding CAPTCHA solution can be provided to bypass the protection.
  • In-session CAPTCHA brute-forcing
    • The application does not destroy the HTTP session when the given CAPTCHA is already solved - by re-using the session ID of a known CAPTCHA it is possible to bypass another CAPTCHA protected page

Solution

Because the CAPTCHA cracking attacks are still improving (and will improve in the future), CAPTCHA should be perceived as a rate-limiting protection only.
If it is implemented, the following considerations should be taken into account:

  • No CAPTCHA information (except the image itself) should be stored on the client side
  • The client should have no "control" over the CAPTCHA content
  • CAPTCHA images should be always randomly generated without possibility to perform image preprocessing, segmentation and classification
  • CAPTCHA images should not be reused.

Black Box testing and example

  • Use an intercepting fault injection proxy (e.g., WebScarab or BurpSuite) to:
    • Identify all parameters which are sent (in addition to the decoded CAPTCHA value) from the client to the server in order to check if these parameters contain encrypted or hashed values of decoded CAPTCHA and CAPTCHA ID number
    • Try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old CAPTCHA ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
    • Try to send an old decoded CAPTCHA value with an old session ID (if the application accepts them, it is vulnerable to replay attacks)
  • Find out if similar CAPTCHAs have already been broken.
  • Verify if the set of possible answers for a CAPTCHA is limited and can be easily determined.

Gray Box testing and example

Audit the application source code in order to reveal:

  • Used CAPTCHA implementation and version - there are many known vulnerabilities in widely used CAPTCHA implementations, see http://osvdb.org/search?request=captcha
  • If the application sends encrypted or hashed value from the client, verify if used encryption or hash algorithm is sufficiently strong

References

CAPTCHA decoders:

Analysis tools:

Articles: