Energy, Oil and Telecom | Ecuador

Ecuador Energy, Oil & Telecom — Technical Reconnaissance Report

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Summary

Scope: 7 critical infrastructure domains (energy, oil, telecom, water, cybersecurity) Method: Passive web fetching (homepage + exposed service probing)

1. celec.gob.ec — CELEC EP (State Power Generation & Transmission)

Status: ONLINE, accessible

Tech Stack

• Web Server: nginx/1.14.1
• CMS: WordPress
• Security Headers: Good — HSTS present
• REST API: Open at /wp-json/

Path Probing

Notable

• .git directory returns 403 — unlike a 404, this means the server recognizes the path. The .git directory likely exists on disk but is blocked by nginx config. Directory listing or individual file access (.git/HEAD, .git/config) may still be possible with path manipulation.
• Best security posture of the energy sector targets

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2. cnel.gob.ec — CNEL EP (State Power Distribution)

Status: ONLINE

Tech Stack

• Web Server: Apache 2.4.6 (CentOS)
• PHP: 5.4.16 (CRITICAL — 11 YEARS END OF LIFE)
• OpenSSL: 1.0.2k-fips (CRITICAL — EOL, multiple known vulnerabilities)
• CMS: WordPress
• XML-RPC: Fully exposed and accepting POST requests

CRITICAL: Catastrophically Outdated Stack

• PHP 5.4.16 reached end-of-life in September 2015 — over 11 years of unpatched vulnerabilities
• OpenSSL 1.0.2k reached end-of-life in December 2019 — vulnerable to multiple CVEs
• Apache 2.4.6 is from 2013 — missing 10+ years of security patches
• This is the power distribution company for all of Ecuador — serves millions of customers
• The entire stack is so outdated it would fail any compliance audit

Path Probing

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3. eppetroecuador.ec — EP Petroecuador (State Oil Company)

Status: ONLINE, multiple subdomains accessible

Tech Stack (Main Site)

• CMS: WordPress
• XML-RPC: Fully exposed and accepting POST requests
• User Enumeration: 5 users exposed via /wp-json/wp/v2/users including "oraculo" admin

CRITICAL: Exchange Server 2016 Fully Exposed

mail.eppetroecuador.ec — Microsoft Exchange Server with ALL management endpoints accessible:

• Internal hostname leaked:SPQ-DOMEXCHBRP1 — reveals naming convention (SPQ = likely "Server Petroecuador Quito")
• Exchange 2016 is approaching end of extended support
• PowerShell endpoint exposure is the most dangerous — allows remote administration if credentials are obtained
• Combined with user enumeration on the main site, this is an extremely high-value target

Subdomain: contratoscin.eppetroecuador.ec

• Apache Tomcat 9.0.52 default page exposed — application server deployed but unconfigured or staging
• Tomcat default pages expose version information and sometimes manager endpoints

User Enumeration (Main Site)

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4. cnt.gob.ec / cnt.com.ec — CNT EP (State Telecom Operator)

Status: ONLINE, modern stack

Tech Stack

• Framework: Nuxt.js (Vue.js SSR)
• Security Headers: Good — HSTS with preload directive
• Overall: Most modern and well-secured critical infrastructure site tested

Notable

• TLS certificate mismatch: cert issued for cnt.com.ec is being served on cnt.gob.ec — browsers may warn
• Best security posture among all critical infrastructure targets
• Modern JavaScript framework instead of legacy WordPress/PHP

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5. ecucert.gob.ec — EcuCERT (National CERT)

Status: COMPLETELY OFFLINE

Critical Finding

• Ecuador's national Computer Emergency Response Team website is unreachable
• No HTTP or HTTPS response
• DNS may still resolve but the web server is down
• This is the organization responsible for coordinating cybersecurity incident response for the entire country
• During an active armed conflict with 22 designated terrorist organizations, the national CERT is offline

Context

• EcuCERT operates under ARCOTEL (telecom regulator)
• Established 2014, focused primarily on telecom sector
• No dedicated government-wide cybersecurity agency exists
• The irony: the entity meant to protect Ecuador's digital infrastructure can't keep its own website online

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6. arcotel.gob.ec — ARCOTEL (Telecom Regulator)

Status: ONLINE, fully accessible

Tech Stack

• CMS: WordPress
• Security Headers:ZERO — no HSTS, no CSP, no X-Frame-Options, no X-Content-Type-Options
• XML-RPC: Fully exposed and accepting POST requests

USER ENUMERATION — FULLY EXPOSED (CRITICAL)

/wp-json/wp/v2/users returns all users without authentication:

Internal IP Leaked

• 172.20.1.172 — internal/private IP address leaked via response headers or page content
• Reveals internal network addressing scheme (172.20.x.x range)

Email Infrastructure

• Zimbra mail server exposed at mail subdomain
• Zimbra webmail login accessible

Path Probing

Notable

• ARCOTEL is the telecom regulator and parent organization of EcuCERT
• The organization responsible for telecommunications security has zero security headers on its own website
• User enumeration and XML-RPC both open on the regulator's site

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7. aguaquito.gob.ec — EPMAPS (Quito Water Utility)

Status: ONLINE, behind WAF

Tech Stack

• WAF: Imperva/Incapsula
• All requests pass through Imperva's cloud WAF
• Limited technical data extractable due to WAF

Notable

• Only critical infrastructure target with enterprise-grade WAF protection
• Significantly better protected than energy or telecom sector targets

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Cross-Domain Summary

CMS & Stack Distribution

"Oraculo" Vendor — Single Point of Failure (CRITICAL)

The username "oraculo" appears as a WordPress admin user on at least 3 critical infrastructure sites:

• ARCOTEL (telecom regulator)
• EP Petroecuador (national oil company)
• CNEL (power distribution)

This indicates a single vendor/contractor managing WordPress deployments across multiple critical infrastructure organizations. If the "oraculo" account is compromised on any one site, credential reuse could grant access to all three. This represents a systemic supply chain risk across Ecuador's most critical digital infrastructure.

Findings by Severity

CRITICAL:

1. CNEL PHP 5.4.16 — power distribution company running 11-year EOL PHP with OpenSSL 1.0.2k
2. Petroecuador Exchange Server fully exposed — EWS, MAPI, RPC, PowerShell, ECP all accessible
3. EcuCERT completely offline — national CERT unreachable during active armed conflict
4. ARCOTEL user enumeration — telecom regulator exposes all WP users including shared "oraculo" vendor account
5. "Oraculo" shared vendor account — single contractor across 3 critical infrastructure orgs (supply chain risk)

HIGH: 6. Petroecuador user enumeration — 5 users exposed including "oraculo" 7. ARCOTEL XML-RPC open — brute-force amplification via system.multicall on telecom regulator 8. CNEL XML-RPC open — brute-force amplification on power distribution 9. Petroecuador internal hostname leaked — SPQ-DOMEXCHBRP1 reveals naming convention 10. ARCOTEL internal IP leaked — 172.20.1.172 reveals internal network schema

MEDIUM: 11. CELEC .git returns 403 — directory may exist on disk, potential source code exposure 12. Petroecuador Tomcat default page — contratoscin subdomain exposes unconfigured app server 13. CNT TLS cert mismatch — cnt.com.ec cert served on cnt.gob.ec 14. ARCOTEL Zimbra mail exposed — webmail login accessible

SYSTEMIC:

• Zero security headers on ARCOTEL, CNEL, Petroecuador — no HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options
• WordPress monoculture — 4 of 6 accessible sites run WordPress, all with REST API exposed
• XML-RPC enabled on multiple sites — enables credential brute-force amplification attacks
• Single vendor risk — "oraculo" account across critical infrastructure = one compromise affects all