Cujo: efficient detection and prevention of drive-by-download attacks

The JavaScript language is a core component of active and dynamic web content in the Internet today. Besides its great success in enhancing web applications, however, JavaScript provides the basis for so-called drive-by downloads--attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in web browsers and their extensions for unnoticeably downloading malicious software. Due to the diversity and frequent use of obfuscation in these attacks, static code analysis is largely ineffective in practice. While dynamic analysis and honeypots provide means to identify drive-by-download attacks, current approaches induce a significant overhead which renders immediate prevention of attacks intractable. In this paper, we present Cujo, a system for automatic detection and prevention of drive-by-download attacks. Embedded in a web proxy, Cujo transparently inspects web pages and blocks delivery of malicious JavaScript code. Static and dynamic code features are extracted on-the-fly and analysed for malicious patterns usin...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ACSAC
• Authors: Konrad Rieck, Tammo Krueger, Andreas Dewald
• Keywords: ACSAC 2010, Drive-by Downloads, Drive-by-download Attacks, Security Privacy, Static Code Analysis