After gaining a foothold in a network or infrastructure, attackers can often employ a tactic called "lateral movement" to advance laterally through the target environment. Recent years have seen a shift towards cloud-based settings, with organizations choosing cloud services for the scalability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness they offer. Nonetheless, new security issues are being introduced as a result of this change, and malicious actors are continually developing new methods to exploit vulnerabilities in cloud-based platforms.
One such method that has recently attracted a lot of interest is known as /"Pass-the-PRT/", which stands for /"Pass the Primary Refresh Token/". This technique allows attackers to migrate laterally into a cloud environment. by leveraging the Primary Refresh Token (PRT), an essential component of today's authentication systems.
It is necessary to have a solid understanding of core refresh tokens in order to understand the Pass-the-PRT protocol. Core refresh tokens are used in cloud-based authentication, and their purpose is to strengthen and maintain user trust in their relationship with the cloud provider. An initial access token and a master refresh token are issued to the user when the user has successfully authenticated as a user. The access token has a shorter lifespan than other tokens and is used to gain temporary access to cloud resources. On the other hand, the master refresh token is valid for a longer period of time and can be used to make new access token requests without the user needing to re-enter their credentials.
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's discuss the Pass-the-PRT approach. An adversary gains first access to a cloud environment in the typical assault scenario. This is usually achieved through social engineering, phishing, or exploiting a vulnerability. Once entered, the attacker's goal is to escalate privileges and move laterally within the cloud architecture in order to access additional resources and sensitive data.
To achieve this goal, the adversary must first discover and then obtain the primary refresh token associated with a valid user's session. This can be accomplished by compromising the device used by the user, intercepting network traffic, or taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the infrastructure provided by the cloud provider. Once the primary refresh token has been stolen by the attacker, the attacker can use it to their advantage to make requests for additional access tokens, thereby avoiding the need for authentication. Since the attacker now has access to these updated tokens, they are able to move laterally within the cloud environment, access a variety of resources, systems, and services, and endanger the integrity of the entire infrastructure.
Since the attacker does not need to rely on standard attack vectors like obtaining credentials or relying on brute force tactics, the Pass-the-PRT methodology is highly stealthy. An attacker can avoid triggering security alarms that would normally be activated if an unusual number of authentication attempts are made if using the session belonging to a valid user.
In conclusion, Pass-the-PRT is a sophisticated lateral movement technique that attackers use to gain unauthorized access to cloud systems. This approach is known as a "password reuse attack". Attackers have the ability to move laterally and could even compromise the entire infrastructure if they successfully exploit the core refresh token. To reduce the risk of being the target of a Pass-the-PRT attack, businesses should implement strong authentication measures, closely monitor any unusual behavior, and ensure their cloud environments are always up to date . Organizations are able to improve the protection of their cloud-based systems and safeguard sensitive data from sophisticated adversaries by adopting a proactive, multi-layered security approach.
OCPT (Offensive Cloud Penetration Testing) certification details:
https://hackerassociate.com/ocpt-offensive-cloud-penetration-testing/
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