Exploit Kit

One-liner: An automated software toolkit that probes victims' browsers for vulnerabilities and delivers malware without user interaction.

🎯 What Is It?

An Exploit Kit (EK) is a pre-packaged collection of exploits designed to automatically identify and exploit vulnerabilities in a victim's system—typically through their web browser or browser plugins. Exploit kits are used in the Weaponization and Delivery stages of the Cyber Kill Chain.

🔬 How It Works

1. Traffic Redirection
   └── Victim visits compromised/malicious site
   └── Redirected to exploit kit landing page (via iframe, malvertising, etc.)

2. Fingerprinting  
   └── EK identifies browser, OS, plugins, versions
   └── Checks for vulnerable software (Flash, Java, PDF reader)

3. Exploit Selection
   └── Selects appropriate exploit for detected vulnerabilities
   └── May try multiple exploits in sequence

4. Payload Delivery
   └── Exploit triggers, downloads/executes malware
   └── Typically ransomware, banking trojans, or RATs

5. Post-Exploitation
   └── Malware establishes persistence
   └── Connects to C2 server

📊 Notable Exploit Kits

🛡️ Detection & Prevention

How to Detect

• Monitor for suspicious iframe injections
• Network traffic analysis for known EK domains/patterns
• Endpoint behavioral monitoring (unusual process spawning from browsers)
• Sandbox analysis of suspicious redirects

How to Prevent / Mitigate

• Patch management - Keep browsers and plugins updated
• Disable unnecessary plugins (Flash, Java, Silverlight)
• Use modern browsers with built-in exploit mitigations
• Deploy WAFs and web filtering
• Enable browser sandboxing features
• Ad blockers to prevent Malvertising

🎤 Interview Angles

Common Questions

• "What is an exploit kit and how does it work?"
• "How would you detect exploit kit activity on a network?"
• "Why have exploit kits declined in popularity?"

Key Talking Points

• EKs are "drive-by download" attacks—no user interaction needed
• Decline due to browser security improvements and Flash deprecation
• Still relevant for unpatched systems and targeted attacks

✅ Best Practices

• Enforce automatic updates across all endpoints
• Use browser isolation for high-risk users
• Block known malicious domains at DNS level
• Regular vulnerability scanning of client systems

🔗 Related Concepts

• Cyber Kill Chain
• Malvertising
• Exploit
• Payload
• Drive-by Download

📚 References

• MITRE ATT&CK - Drive-by Compromise (T1189)
• Trend Micro Exploit Kit Reports