sans
Jul 10, 2026 at 02:00
Latest cybersecurity news from CISA, Krebs on Security, and other trusted sources
[This is a Guest Diary by Jason Callahan, an ISC intern as part of the SANS.edu BACS program]
The stack is a memory region where a program stores temporary data -&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;like local variables and return addresses. Think of the stack as a pile of plates in your kitchen: you can only add a new plate to the top, and you can only take one away from the top too. Programs use this same "last in, first out" principle to keep track of what they&#;x26;#;39;re doing. Every time a function is called, the program pushes a new plate onto the stack containing things like local variables and the address to return to once the function finishes. When the function is done, that plate is popped off the top, and execution resumes exactly where it left off. This simple mechanism is what allows programs to call functions within functions within functions, and always find their way back -&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;but it&#;x26;#;39;s also precisely why a stack that grows too large, or gets overwritten with unexpected data, becomes a favorite target for attackers looking to hijack a program&#;x26;#;39;s execution flow.
Yesterday, I talked about NAPTR records and how they are related to RCS. But there is another "odd" record that shows up in my DNS logs. This one isn&#;x26;#;39;t new, but I don&#;x26;#;39;t think I ever covered it: NIMLOC. At least that is what Zeek calls it. But let&#;x26;#;39;s see what it is all about.
Over the last year, with recent updates to iOS and Android, RCS (Rich Communication Services) has become an increasingly used protocol [1]. RCS is supposed to eventually replace SMS, and in addition to richer formatting, provides added (but optional) security. RCS messages may be end-to-end encrypted and digitally signed. Unlike SMS, which was "bolted on" to existing voice-focused phone standards. The SMS standard was based on old-fashioned pagers and allowed for limited clear-text communications. RCS is built from the ground up around modern IP-based network infrastructure and behaves more like IP chat services (think iMessage, WhatsApp...). RCS defines the message format, while protocols like SIP are used to establish connections and transport messages.
This morning, an interesting phishing email hit my mailbox. It targets Metamask[1], a cryptocurrency wallet, available as a browser extension and a mobile app, that lets users store, send, and receive crypto money. It's pretty popular, so a juicy target for criminals. In February, I already mentioned a campaign against them[2].
Apple released updates for iOS/iPadOS, macOS, and Safari on Monday. There have been no updates for other Apple operating systems (visionOS, watchOS, tvOS). Usually, Apple updates all products at the same time.
I&#;x26;#;39;m in the throes of target host recon for another pentest, and thought I&#;x26;#;39;d share some workflow / automation stuff.
YARA-X&#;x26;#;39;s 1.18.0 release brings 3 improvements and 2 bugfixes.
[This is a Guest Diary by Nicole Phillips, an ISC intern as part of the SANS.edu BACS program]
In a previous diary, I talked about stack strings&#;x26;#;x5b;1&#;x26;#;x5d; with a practical example of them. Since my SEC670 class, I&#;x26;#;xe2;&#;x26;#;x80;&#;x26;#;x99;m even more interested&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;in malware obfuscation techniques. I had&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;a look at process names. When you list running processes on a computer, can you trust what you see&#;x26;#;x3f; If you&#;x26;#;39;re facing a rootkit, malicious processes can be simply hidden (the API calls or commands to list processed have been tampered). But a malicious process&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;can also mimic a non-suspicious name by masquerading their name. This technique (T1036 in the MITRE ATT&#;x26;CK framework&#;x26;#;x5b;2&#;x26;#;x5d;) has been used by attackers in many campaigns. A good example of the Velvet Ant Chinese group&#;x26;#;x5b;3&#;x26;#;x5d;. The goal is to hide the &#;x26;#;xe2;&#;x26;#;x80;œmalware&#;x26;#;xe2;&#;x26;#;x80; process name by replacing it with something&#;x26;#;xc2;&#;x26;#;xa0;that won&#;x26;#;xe2;&#;x26;#;x80;&#;x26;#;x99;t attract the Security Analyst&#;x26;#;xe2;&#;x26;#;x80;&#;x26;#;x99;s eyes or defeat security
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