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What is http WPAD WPAD DAT?
The Web Proxy Auto-Discovery (WPAD) Protocol is a method used by clients to locate the URL of a configuration file using DHCP and/or DNS discovery methods. Once detection and download of the configuration file is complete, it can be executed to determine the proxy for a specified URL.
What is name resolution poisoning?
Domain Name Server (DNS) spoofing (a.k.a. DNS cache poisoning) is an attack in which altered DNS records are used to redirect online traffic to a fraudulent website that resembles its intended destination.
How do I check my WPAD?
Confirm WinHTTP WPAD service is running
- On the Windows machine, open a command prompt with administrator privileges.
- Enter this command to check the status of the WPAD service: sc query winhttpautoproxysvc. Confirm that the reported state is RUNNING. For example, these results should appear.
Where is WPAD DAT stored?
dat files as “application/x-ns-proxy-autoconfig” mime types and the wpad. dat file should be located at the web site’s root directory. For example in an IIS configuration, you should do the following: Go to Start –> settings –> control panel –> administrative tools –> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Where do you put the WPAD DAT?
dat file should be located at the web site’s root directory. For example in an IIS configuration, you should do the following: Go to Start –> settings –> control panel –> administrative tools –> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Right click the web site node in which you are going to host the wpad.
When to use WPAD or rogue web proxy?
On Windows, WPAD is used when the “automatically detect settings” option is checked in this configuration panel. A rogue web proxy would allow attackers to intercept and modify non-encrypted HTTP traffic, which wouldn’t normally be a big deal because most major websites today use HTTPS (HTTP Secure).
What happens when WPAD is enabled in a browser?
With WPAD enabled, a browser will perform special requests against the DHCP and DNS servers set up in the network. These requests attempt to get the PAC file described before. When WPAD is enabled inside a local network, all clients with WPAD enabled will automagically get the right proxy settings.
How is WPAD used in DNS auto discovery?
WPAD auto-discovery is often enabled in enterprise environments, which enables us to attack the DNS auto-discovery process. We can do that by setting up a proxy on our attacking machine and instruct all the clients to forward the requests through our proxy, which enables us to save all the requests in a .pcap file.
Are there any security risks to using WPAD?
A third researcher, Maxim Goncharov, held a separate Black Hat talk about WPAD security risks, entitled BadWPAD. In May, researchers from Verisign and the University of Michigan showed that tens of millions of WPAD requests leak out onto the Internet every single day when laptops are taken outside of enterprise networks.