According to Google, attackers compromised infrastructure behind three country-code domain namespaces—.gh (Ghana), .sl (Sierra Leone), and .as (American Samoa)—and used it to obtain unauthorized HTTPS certificates for Google domains and other organizations. These domain endings aren’t limited to sites serving those countries, so the risk can extend to users elsewhere.
This wasn’t a break in encryption, and Google’s systems weren’t compromised. Instead, attackers manipulated the internet’s addressing infrastructure so they could pass the checks required to obtain certificates for domains they didn’t legitimately control.
The Domain Name System (DNS) helps direct internet traffic to the right destination. Control over DNS can also provide a way to demonstrate apparent control of a domain when requesting an HTTPS certificate.
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Source: MalwareBytes Labs
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