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Introduction:
When an AI company markets “advanced vulnerability discovery” while leaving its own partner portal login page marked “Not Secure” for over six weeks—despite direct threat intelligence warnings—the gap between marketing and reality becomes a systemic risk. This incident reveals a troubling culture of performative security, where external contributions are silently exploited, basic DNS hygiene is ignored, and collaborative defense takes a backseat to extraction.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify insecure transport configurations and DNS hygiene failures in enterprise subdomains.
- Perform certificate validation, DNS record audits, and MITM risk assessments using open-source tools.
- Understand how to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities and evaluate an organization’s security responsiveness.
You Should Know:
- Exposed Partner Portal: The Anatomy of a “Not Secure” Login Page
The post details that Anthropic’s partner portal login domain remained flagged as “Not Secure” for weeks, enabling credential theft via man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, session hijacking, and phishing amplification. Only on April 6—six weeks after notification—was a new digital certificate placed.
Step‑by‑step guide to audit your own subdomain security:
Linux/macOS commands to check certificate and DNS:
Check certificate expiry and issuer for a domain echo | openssl s_client -servername partnerportal.example.com -connect partnerportal.example.com:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates -issuer -subject Test for insecure ciphers and TLS versions nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 443 partnerportal.example.com Verify DNS records (A, CNAME, TXT) for hygiene dig partnerportal.example.com A +short dig partnerportal.example.com CNAME +short dig partnerportal.example.com TXT +short Check if HSTS is enforced curl -I https://partnerportal.example.com | grep -i "strict-transport-security"
Windows (PowerShell) equivalent:
Check certificate
Test-NetConnection partnerportal.example.com -Port 443 | Select-Object -ExpandProperty TcpTestSucceeded
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::ServerCertificateValidationCallback = {$true}
$req = [System.Net.HttpWebRequest]::Create("https://partnerportal.example.com")
$req.GetResponse() | Out-Null
$req.ServicePoint.Certificate
DNS query
Resolve-DnsName partnerportal.example.com -Type A
Resolve-DnsName partnerportal.example.com -Type TXT
Why this matters: A missing or expired certificate on a login page means all credentials, API keys, and session cookies are transmitted in plaintext. Attackers on the same network (public Wi-Fi, malicious ISP) can trivially intercept and replay them.
- DNS Hygiene Failures: Inconsistent Records and Subdomain Takeover Risks
The post mentions “inconsistent DNS hygiene.” Common issues include dangling CNAME records pointing to decommissioned cloud resources, missing SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and lack of DNSSEC.
Step‑by‑step guide to audit DNS hygiene:
Linux:
Enumerate subdomains (passive) amass enum -passive -d example.com -o subdomains.txt Check for dangling CNAME while read sub; do target=$(dig $sub CNAME +short) if [[ -n $target ]] && ! dig $target A +short | grep -q .; then echo "VULN: $sub -> $target (dangling)" fi done < subdomains.txt Verify SPF/DKIM/DMARC dig example.com TXT +short | grep "v=spf1" dig _dmarc.example.com TXT +short
Windows:
Resolve-DnsName -Name example.com -Type TXT | Where-Object {$_.Strings -match "v=spf"}
Resolve-DnsName -Name _dmarc.example.com -Type TXT
Remediation: Remove orphaned DNS records, enforce DNSSEC, and use automated monitoring (e.g., SecurityTrails, Censys) to detect misconfigurations.
- Threat Intelligence Sharing Abused: The Ethical Disclosure Breakdown
Andy Jenkinson’s team provided detailed findings to Anthropic, who quietly remediated select issues without acknowledgment, transparency, or thanks. This “extraction without engagement” model damages the collaborative security ecosystem.
Step‑by‑step guide for responsible disclosure (for researchers):
- Use encrypted channels (PGP key on company’s security.txt or Bugcrowd).
- Set a 90‑day standard disclosure deadline.
- If no response, escalate to CERT (cert.org) or industry ISAC.
- Document all communication attempts (timestamps, hashed emails).
- Public disclosure after deadline with redacted technical details.
For organizations receiving reports:
Set up security.txt on your domain echo "Contact: mailto:[email protected]" > .well-known/security.txt echo "Expires: 2026-12-31T00:00:00.000Z" >> .well-known/security.txt echo "Preferred-Languages: en" >> .well-known/security.txt
- MITM Attack Simulation on “Not Secure” Login Pages
To understand the risk, simulate a MITM on a lab environment using `bettercap` ormitmproxy.
Linux setup:
Install bettercap sudo apt install bettercap ARP spoof target and route traffic sudo bettercap -eval "set arp.spoof.targets 192.168.1.100; arp.spoof on; net.sniff on" Capture HTTP POST credentials (non-HTTPS) sudo tcpdump -i eth0 -A -s 0 'tcp port 80 and (tcp[((tcp[12:1] & 0xf0) >> 2):4] = 0x504f5354)'
Defense: Enforce HSTS preload, use certificate pinning, and deploy TLS 1.3 only.
- AI Security Culture Gap: Why “Mythos” Fails Where Basic Hygiene Wins
Anthropic’s “Mythos” claims advanced vulnerability discovery, yet external researchers found basic gaps. This highlights a critical lesson: AI-driven security tools are supplements, not replacements for foundational controls.
Checklist for AI companies to avoid performative security:
- Run continuous external attack surface monitoring (e.g., SecurityScorecard, BinaryEdge).
- Implement automated certificate lifecycle management (e.g., Venafi, Let’s Encrypt with certbot renewals).
- Create a public vulnerability disclosure program (VDP) with clear SLAs.
- Conduct quarterly red team exercises targeting partner portals and subdomains.
Linux automation for certificate renewal monitoring:
Daily cron job to check expiry and alert !/bin/bash DOMAIN="partnerportal.example.com" EXPIRY=$(echo | openssl s_client -servername $DOMAIN -connect $DOMAIN:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -enddate | cut -d= -f2) EXPIRY_EPOCH=$(date -d "$EXPIRY" +%s) NOW_EPOCH=$(date +%s) DAYS_LEFT=$(( ($EXPIRY_EPOCH - $NOW_EPOCH) / 86400 )) if [ $DAYS_LEFT -lt 30 ]; then echo "Certificate for $DOMAIN expires in $DAYS_LEFT days" | mail -s "TLS Alert" [email protected] fi
What Undercode Say:
- Silent remediation is not security. Organizations that accept threat intelligence but refuse to engage, credit, or collaborate erode trust and leave systemic risks unaddressed.
- AI marketing cannot override DNS basics. A “Mythos” vulnerability discovery capability means nothing when your own partner portal fails HSTS, certificate renewal, and MITM protections for weeks.
This incident is a wake‑up call: the AI industry must move from extraction-based security (taking intel without feedback) to transparent, collaborative defense. When a single external researcher finds what AI-driven scanners miss—insecure transport, dangling DNS, expired certs—the gap is not technical but cultural. Until boards demand public VDPs, automated certificate hygiene, and third‑party audits, we will see more Anthropic‑style failures. The next one might not just leak credentials—it could expose model weights or training data.
Prediction:
Within 12 months, regulatory bodies (FTC, EU AI Office) will mandate minimum security hygiene—including HSTS preload, DNSSEC, and public disclosure policies—for any AI company handling partner or user data. Organizations that continue performative security will face fines and forced third‑party audits, similar to GDPR but with weekly certificate expiry checks. Anthropic’s silence will be cited as a case study in “how not to handle threat intelligence,” accelerating the shift toward open, verifiable security postures.
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Reported By: Andy Jenkinson – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
