The Patching Friars' AlmanacA calendar of CVE saints
ConfickerHoly card for d-conficker, generated with AI (Claude, Anthropic) for the Lunario dei Frati Patchatori.CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 a.wsqx.cnkv.bizzr.info Conficker DOMINIA INFINITA
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Circle I · Worms

The Demon Conficker, Lord of Generated Domains

Legend

Detected in November 2008, Conficker came in through the MS08-067 flaw in the Windows Server service, hopped from USB stick to USB stick and guessed weak network-share passwords. To receive orders it generated thousands of domains a day, so the industry formed the Conficker Working Group to register them before it could. It built a botnet of millions of PCs, never struck a truly big blow, yet haunted unpatched systems for more than a decade.

Exorcism

Cast it out by applying MS08-067 and keeping even the oldest systems updated. Disable AutoRun and AutoPlay for removable media, and enforce strong admin passwords with lockout after too many attempts.

Technical record

Also known as
Downadup, Kido
Circle
Circle I · Worms · Circle II · Legions (botnets)
First seen
2008
Status
Dormant
Works
The Scourge of Conficker

A worm first detected in November 2008 that exploited the Windows Server service flaw MS08-067, spread via USB drives and weak network-share passwords, and used domain-generation algorithms for command and control. It built a botnet of millions of PCs, prompting the industry Conficker Working Group to pre-register its domains. It never delivered a major payload but lingered on unpatched systems for over a decade.

Sources: attack.mitre.org · en.wikipedia.org · nvd.nist.gov · MITRE ATT&CK reference S0608

© The MITRE Corporation. ATT&CK® information is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.

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