Traceroute Route Enumeration
Attack Pattern ID: 293 (Detailed Attack Pattern Completeness: Stub)Typical Severity: LowStatus: Draft
+ Description

Summary

An attacker uses a traceroute utility to map out the route which data flows through the network in route to a target destination. Tracerouting can allow an attacker to construct a working topology of systems and routers by listing the systems through which data passes through on their way to the targeted machine. This attack can return varied results depending upon the type of traceroute that is performed. Traceroute works by sending packets to a target while incrementing the Time-to-Live field in the packet header. As the packet traverses each hop along its way to the destination, its TTL expires generating an ICMP diagnostic message that identifies where the packet expired. Traditional techniques for tracerouting involved the use of ICMP and UDP. As more firewalls began to filter ingress ICMP, methods of traceroute using TCP were developed

+ Target Attack Surface

Target Attack Surface Description

Targeted OSI Layers: Network Layer Transport Layer

Target Attack Surface Localities

Server-side

Target Attack Surface Types: Network Host Service

+ Attack Prerequisites

A network capable of routing the attackers packets to the destination network.

+ Resources Required

A command line version of traceroute or similar tool that performs route enumeration.

+ Related Attack Patterns
NatureTypeIDNameDescriptionView(s) this relationship pertains toView\(s\)
ChildOfAttack PatternAttack Pattern309Scanning for Devices, Systems, or Routes 
Mechanism of Attack1000
+ References
Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray, George Kurtz. "Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions". 6th Edition. McGraw Hill, ISBN: 978-0-07-161374-3. 2009.
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