Spammers using Google open redirect

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 15, 2011

Vulnerability 'not worthy of bug bounty program'.

Researchers at Solera Labs have discovered spammers using an open redirect at Google to hide the final destination of their link from both users and filters.

Open redirects on a domain allow for the creation of redirects to arbitrary third-party sites. They are usually enabled by a site's administrator to measure click-through rates, though in practice there is rarely ever a need for them to be open. When they are, they have a history of being abused by spammers who thus avoid their emails being blocked because of a blacklisted domain name.

The redirects are still open at time of writing. Google has a famous 'bug bounty' program, offering rewards to those pointing out bugs in its products and services. Open redirects, however, are excluded from the program because Google claims that even without a redirect, a user can be tricked into believing a link or website is genuine.

While this may be true, it ignores another reason why open redirects are attractive for spammers: with the increasing importance of URL and domain reputation in spam filtering, spammers may not care so much about tricking the user into believing their link is genuine, but they do care about filters not seeing their malicious websites.

More at Solera Labs' blog here, which also includes a brief analysis of the fake AV the victim is ultimately redirected to. Google's views on open redirects can be found here.

Posted on 15 December 2011 by Virus Bulletin

twitter.png
fb.png
linkedin.png
hackernews.png
reddit.png

 

Latest posts:

VBSpam tests to be executed under the AMTSO framework

VB is excited to announce that, starting from the Q3 test, all VBSpam tests of email security products will be executed under the AMTSO framework.

In memoriam: Prof. Ross Anderson

We were very sorry to learn of the passing of Professor Ross Anderson a few days ago.

In memoriam: Dr Alan Solomon

We were very sorry to learn of the passing of industry pioneer Dr Alan Solomon earlier this week.

New paper: Nexus Android banking botnet – compromising C&C panels and dissecting mobile AppInjects

In a new paper, researchers Aditya K Sood and Rohit Bansal provide details of a security vulnerability in the Nexus Android botnet C&C panel that was exploited in order to gather threat intelligence, and present a model of mobile AppInjects.

New paper: Collector-stealer: a Russian origin credential and information extractor

In a new paper, F5 researchers Aditya K Sood and Rohit Chaturvedi present a 360 analysis of Collector-stealer, a Russian-origin credential and information extractor.

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.