JWT weak-secret brute force
HMAC secrets cracked offline to sign arbitrary tokens
categoryWeb and application attacksseverityHighdetectabilityLowlabnot yet measured
Example: hashcat 16500
Classification
30 values: 14 imported, 2 derived, 14 machine-classified. What do these mean?
Exploitability
| Attack vector | Credential attacksSoftware vulnerabilities |
|---|---|
| Reach (CVSS) | Network |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | None |
| User interaction | None |
| Attacker skill required | Low |
| Resources required | Low |
| Likelihood / prevalence | Medium |
| Maturity | Established |
Impact & scope
| Severity | High |
|---|---|
| Impact | ConfidentialityIntegrity |
| Platform | Identity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteWindows |
| Environment | Cloud |
| Target asset class | IdentityWeb app / API |
| Kill-chain phase (tactic) | Credential Access |
Detection & telemetry
| Detectability | Low |
|---|---|
| Testability | Atomic Red Team test |
| Data sources (ATT&CK data components) | File AccessFile CreationProcess AccessProcess CreationUser Account Authentication |
Detection & response
Mitigated by 16
- M1027 attack-mitigation
- M1032 attack-mitigation
D3-ANCId3fendD3-CCSAd3fendD3-CDPd3fendD3-CHd3fendD3-CRd3fendD3-CROd3fendD3-CTSd3fendD3-DUCd3fendD3-MFAd3fendD3-OTPd3fendD3-PRd3fendD3-PWAd3fendD3-RICd3fendD3-SPPd3fend
Detected by 2
- DET0105 attack-detection-strategy
39b31e81-5f5f-4898-9c0e-2160cfc0f9bfsigma
Tested by 1
6d27df5d-69d4-4c91-bc33-5983ffe91692atomic
Attack relationships
- Parent: Broken authentication (API)
- Parent: WPS PIN brute force
Framework references
- Primary source: https://portswigger.net/web-security/jwt
- cwe: CWE-1391 (primary)
- attack: T1110.002
Evidence & sources
- ev-0001 (Cyber Attack Taxonomy) — Name, definition and Example/ID taken verbatim from the 'Web and application attacks' table, line 284 of Cyber-Attack-Taxonomy.md
- ev-0002 (Seeded-record enrichment run 2026-09-30 (crosswalk + facet classification)) — Crosswalk to cwe:CWE-1391, attack:T1110.002 as the nearest framework entries; ids verified to exist in the cached catalogues.
- ev-0003 (MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) 4.20) — Linked to CWE-1391 'Use of Weak Credentials', a CWE Class-level weakness (CWE 4.20).
Use of Weak Credentials
- ev-0004 (MITRE Enterprise ATT&CK v19.2 (STIX 2.1)) — ATT&CK usage prevalence: 7 groups/software/campaigns reference this technique (ATT&CK enterprise v19.2)