Domain Contamination

This brief write-up describes an attack that exploits an inherent flaw of the client-side trust model in the context of cyber-squatting and domain hijacking, or in general, in the context of obtaining temporary ownership of a domain (or major parts of it, e.g. defacing the main page). Put simply, the idea explored is to force long term caching of malicious pages in order for them to still be in effect even when the domain returns to its rightful owner. Various attack vectors are discussed, as well as possible protection techniques. While previous works hinted at the possibility of such attack, it is worthwhile to discuss this attack in depth and to refute the common misconception that cyber-squatting, domain hijacking and similar attacks do not have long lasting effect.