Unix Underworld: Tales from the Dark Side of z/OS

Over 90% of mainframes run CICS for transaction management. This article walks through seven practical testing approaches for uncovering common vulnerabilities in mainframe CICS and IMS applications.

When pentesters can't run TSO commands like PARMLIB, in-memory control blocks still reveal authorized command tables. A REXX script walks the CVT pointer chain to dump z/OS TSO configuration data.

Mainframes still process up to one trillion web transactions daily, anchoring banking, government, and healthcare. Part one explains why their reliability and availability keep them relevant today.

Abusing the RACF LISTUSER command on z/OS lets adversaries enumerate all user profiles and identify administrative accounts, enabling targeted password sprays and attacks on mainframes.

Recap of Black Hat USA 2022 and DEF CON 30: Kerberos local privilege escalation research, the new open-source PowerHuntShares and PowerHunt tools, and notable trends from this year's shows.

Despite strong talks and big attendance, Black Hat 2011 lacked industry buzz—no unifying vision beyond government speakers, and the latest security roll-ups by IBM and HP appeared to be flailing.