Dartmouth College Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (DAR1335913112725)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Dartmouth College breach identified under incident ID DAR1335913112725.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Dartmouth College's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dartmouth-college, the number of followers: 130595, the industry type: Higher Education and the number of employees: 6301 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 651 and after the incident was 390 with a difference of -261 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Dartmouth College and their customers.

On 01 November 2025, Dartmouth College disclosed Data Breach, Ransomware Attack and Unauthorized Access issues under the banner "Dartmouth College Oracle E-Business Suite Data Breach by Cl0p Ransomware Gang".

The Cl0p ransomware gang exploited a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-61884) in Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) at Dartmouth College, leaking 226GB of sensitive data, including Social Security numbers (SSNs) and bank account details of at least 1,494 individuals (primarily Maine...

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), and exposing Social Security Numbers (SSNs), Bank Account Information (Routing Numbers) and Personal Names, with nearly 1,494+ (confirmed; total likely higher) records at risk.

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Forensic analysis of EBS access logs, Review of user access permissions and Disabling unnecessary accounts, and began remediation that includes Application of Oracle patches (CVE-2025-61884), Enhanced monitoring of EBS database access and Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrative access, and stakeholders are being briefed through Notification to state regulators (Maine Attorney General) and Notification to affected individuals.

The case underscores how Completed (forensic analysis finalized; extent of data theft confirmed), teams are taking away lessons such as Critical importance of patching zero-day vulnerabilities promptly, especially in enterprise systems like Oracle EBS, Need for proactive monitoring of ERP systems for unauthorized access and Risks of delayed incident detection (breach occurred in August, detected in October), and recommending next steps like {'immediate': ['Apply Oracle’s CVE-2025-61884 patches immediately.', 'Conduct forensic analysis of EBS access logs (August–October 2025).', 'Review and disable unnecessary user accounts.', 'Enable MFA for all EBS administrative access.', 'Implement enhanced monitoring of EBS database activity.']} and {'long_term': ['Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing for ERP systems.', 'Network segmentation to isolate EBS from general networks.', 'Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS).', 'Use data loss prevention (DLP) tools to monitor sensitive data exfiltration.', 'Develop an incident response plan specifically for ERP system compromises.', 'Provide identity theft protection services to affected individuals.']}, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering State regulators (e.g., Maine Attorney General) and Affected individuals (students, faculty, staff).

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with high confidence (100%), supported by evidence indicating exploitation of Oracle EBS Zero-Day Vulnerability (CVE-2025-61884) via remote access without authentication. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts (T1078.004) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating review of user access permissions, Overly permissive user account privileges and Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files (T1552.001) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating forensic analysis of EBS access logs, 226GB of sensitive data exfiltrated (SSNs, bank details). Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified Account Discovery: Local Account (T1087.001) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating review of user access permissions, Disabling unnecessary accounts and Account Discovery: Domain Account (T1087.002) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating forensic analysis of EBS access logs (August–October 2025). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with high confidence (95%), supported by evidence indicating 226GB of sensitive data exfiltrated (SSNs, bank account details, PII) and Data from Network Shared Drive (T1039) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) system compromise. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol (T1048.003) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating 226GB of data leaked on Cl0p’s dark web site (November 2025) and Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating cl0p ransomware gang exfiltrated data before leaking it. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating cl0p ransomware gang (though data encryption not explicitly confirmed) and Data Destruction (T1485) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating data leaked after refusal to pay ransom (implied threat of destruction). Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Indicator Removal: File Deletion (T1070.004) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating delayed detection (breach in August, detected in October) and Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate confidence (65%), supported by evidence indicating insufficient monitoring of EBS access logs for unauthorized activity. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials (T1098.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating overly permissive user account privileges in EBS. Under the Lateral Movement tactic, the analysis identified Remote Services: SSH (T1021.004) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating remote exploitation of Oracle EBS (CVE-2025-61884) without authentication. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.