CyberDudeBivash DeepDive — New Gmail Phishing Attack: Weaponized Login Flow Steals Credentials By CyberDudeBivash — ruthless, engineering-grade threat intel

 

🚨 Executive Summary

Attackers are running a new Gmail phishing campaign that abuses a weaponized login flow to harvest credentials and bypass traditional security controls. Unlike conventional phishing kits, this attack leverages legitimate-looking Google authentication flows embedded with malicious redirections, creating high-trust deception for victims.

Impact:

• Theft of Gmail/Workspace credentials.

• Potential compromise of SSO-linked enterprise accounts.

• Risk of supply-chain breaches through Google Drive/Docs sharing.

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🔎 Attack Flow Breakdown

1. Initial Vector — Email Lure

   • Victims receive a phishing email disguised as:

     • Google Drive file share

     • Security notification (“Your account will be disabled”)

     • Invoice/HR notifications with embedded login links.

2. Weaponized Login Redirect

   • The link leads to a crafted login portal hosted on compromised or attacker-controlled infrastructure.

   • Attackers use embedded OAuth flows or Google-styled HTML templates.

3. Credential Harvesting

   • Once the victim enters email + password, credentials are captured.

   • In some cases, the phishing kit also prompts for 2FA codes or attempts Adversary-in-the-Middle (AitM) interception.

4. Post-Exploitation

   • Stolen credentials are used to:

     • Access Gmail/Workspace.

     • Hijack Google Drive/Docs for further phishing (“reply-chain phishing”).

     • Move laterally into enterprise accounts tied to Google SSO.

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🎯 Why This Attack Works

• High-trust deception: Pages mimic legitimate Google login workflows.

• Real branding: Embedded icons, certificates, and “https://” hosting tricks.

• Multi-step flow: Victims are led through what feels like a real Gmail sign-in, reducing suspicion.

• AitM capability: Captures MFA tokens in real-time.

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🛡️ Detection & Defense

Indicators of Attack (IOAs)

• Emails with links to non-Google domains (but disguised with docs.google.com text).

• Login prompts served from compromised WordPress, Shopify, or static site hosts.

• Shortened links (bit.ly, tinyurl) pointing to “Google login.”

Defender Actions

1. Email Gateway Rules:

   • Block messages with “Google login” text but non-Google domains in URLs.

2. Browser Security Controls:

   • Enable Safe Browsing and reputation-based URL filtering.

3. MFA Hardening:

   • Promote FIDO2/WebAuthn keys instead of SMS or app-based OTPs (mitigates AitM).

4. User Awareness:

   • Train users to always verify auth URLs → accounts.google.com.

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⚡ Threat Hunting Queries

Splunk — Suspicious OAuth Logins

index=google_workspace sourcetype=gsuite:login
| search LoginType="OAuth"
| where not like(ClientApp, "%Google%")
| table _time, User, ClientApp, IPAddress

Elastic KQL — MFA Bypass Attempts

event.dataset : "gsuite.login" 
and outcome.result : "Success" 
and source.ip : ("suspicious ranges") 
and authentication.type : "MFA"

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🛠️ Incident Response Steps

1. Reset compromised accounts immediately.

2. Invalidate OAuth tokens tied to suspicious apps.

3. Review email forwarding rules (attackers often set persistence here).

4. Search for reply-chain phishing from compromised mailboxes.

5. Rotate sensitive credentials linked to Google SSO.

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📌 CyberDudeBivash Verdict

This Gmail phishing wave is next-gen social engineering, blending weaponized login flows with real-time MFA bypass. Enterprises relying on Google Workspace should treat this as high priority, enforce phishing-resistant MFA, and deploy email + browser detection controls immediately.

#CyberDudeBivash #Phishing #Gmail #GoogleWorkspace #CredentialTheft #ThreatIntel #BlueTeam #IncidentResponse #AitM #ZeroTrust