Plugin Spotlight: Office Files List
Attackers have access to a great deal of public information about your organization. Public web sites, domain records, routing information and several other sources can provide an attacker with useful information to launch attacks. Public documents posted on your web site contain metadata that can be very useful to an attacker. Metadata, in the context of the documents created within your organization, is information about the document itself. This can include who created it, their email address, the creation date, the software used to create and publish it and the software version and platform. This information can then be used to create client-side attacks that specifically target individuals and the software they are using.
Nessus plugin 11419, Office files list, attempts to discover the documents that are located on the target web site. Currently this plugin checks for the following document types:
| *.doc | MS Word |
| *.wri | Write |
| *.xls | MS Excel |
| *.ppt | MS PowerPoint |
| *.csv | Generic Spreadsheet |
| *.dif | spreadsheet |
| *.rtf | Generic Word Processor |
| Adobe Acrobat PDF | |
| *.sxw | Open Office Writer |
| *.sxi | Open Office Presentation |
| *.sxc | Open Office Spreadsheet |
| *.sdw | StarWriter |
| *.sdd | StarImpress |
| *.sdc | StarCalc |
Running this plugin against web sites produces a report that lists each document and type found:
When performing vulnerability scans and assessments against your web servers, make sure you also examine the documents being distributed on the web server. Manual inspection is required to ensure that no sensitive information is contained within the document. A further step is required to ensure that document metadata has been removed. Periodic audits using Nessus, especially of your public facing web servers, will aid in the discovery of documents that may leak too much information to attackers. Plugin 11419 helps you find this information before the attackers do.You may also consider implementing a “Metadata Scrubber”, such as the Office add-in made freely available by Microsoft called “Remove hidden data”.
Resources
- "Document Metadata, The Silent Killer" Research Paper by Larry Pesce
- Office 2007 Metadata - Video tutorial on how to extract metadata from Office 2007 documents
- FOCA - An online or downloadable tool for extracting document metadata
Related Articles
Study: Tenable Offers Fastest, Broadest Coverage of CISA's KEV Catalog
October 23, 2023Tenable ranked first in multiple vulnerability management categories, including the most comprehensive coverage and quickest detection of CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, according to a Miercom report commissioned by Tenable.
Tuning Network Assessments for Performance and Resource Usage
September 13, 2022Using the correct tool for the job and optimizing scanner placement will have a large impact on scan efficiency with Nessus, Tenable.io and Tenable.sc.
Terrascan Joins the Nessus Community, Enabling Nessus To Validate Modern Cloud Infrastructures
May 17, 2022The addition of Terrascan to the Nessus family of products helps users better secure cloud native infrastructure by identifying misconfigurations, security weaknesses, and policy violations by scanning Infrastructure as Code repositories.
Navigating Security Challenges Around OT in the DoD’s Manufacturing Lines
April 15, 2024How operational technology can revolutionize logistics, supply chain management, and overall efficiency.
CVE-2024-3400: Zero-Day Vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect Gateway Exploited in the Wild
April 12, 2024A critical severity command injection vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS has been exploited in limited targeted attacks. While a fix is not yet available, patches are expected to be released on April 14 and mitigation steps are available.
Cybersecurity Snapshot: CISA Says Midnight Blizzard Swiped U.S. Gov’t Emails During Microsoft Hack, Tells Fed Agencies To Take Immediate Action
April 12, 2024Check out CISA’s urgent call for federal agencies to protect themselves from Midnight Blizzard’s breach of Microsoft corporate emails. Plus, a new survey shows cybersecurity pros are guardedly optimistic about AI. Meanwhile, SANS pinpoints the four trends CISOs absolutely must focus on this year. And the NSA is sharing best practices for data security. And much more!
- Nessus