The National Police Agency in South Korea warns that North Korea-linked threat actors are targeting defense industry entities.

The National Police Agency in South Korea warns that North Korea-linked threat actors are targeting defense industry entities to steal defense technology information.

North Korea-linked APT groups Lazarus, Andariel, and Kimsuky hacked multiple defense companies in South Korea, reported the National Police Agency.

The state-sponsored hackers hacked into the subcontractors of defense companies by exploiting vulnerabilities in the targeted systems and deployed malware.

“North Korean hacking organizations sometimes infiltrated defense companies directly, and their security is relatively low. Hacking into vulnerable defense industry partners and stealing the defense industry company’s server account information. Afterwards, it was discovered that threat actors had infiltrated major servers without permission and distributed malware.” reads the Police’s advisory shared by BleepingComputer.

The National Police Agency and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) conducted a series of special inspections of the environments of the targeted organizations.

The joint inspections occurred between January 15 and February 16 and impacted organizations implemented protective measures.

The Police states that the attacks are carried out in the form of an all-out war that see the contribution of multiple APT groups. The government experts warned that the attackers employed sophisticated hacking techniques.

The South Korea National Police Agency provided details of multiple attacks carried out by different APT groups.

In one case, the Lazarus APT group successfully breached an organization due poorly protected infrastructure. The group gained access to the network of a defense industry company since November 2022. The hackers deployed a malware and took control of the company’s internal network and exfiltrared important data from, including information stored on the computers of employees in the development team. The hackers breached at least 6 internal computers and stolen data were sent to overseas cloud servers

In a second case attributed to the Andariel APT group, threat actors used an account of an employee of a company that maintains the server of a defense industry company. The attackers stole the account in October 2022 and used it to deploy malware on the servers of defense subcontractors. The malware was used to exfiltrate technical data of valuable defense technology. The Police noticed that the employee was using the same password for personal and work accounts.

In a third attack linked to Kimsuky, the APT group exploited a vulnerability in the email server of a defense subcontractor between April and July 2023. Attackers exploited the flaw to download large files containing technical data without any authentication.

The National Police Agency recommends that defense companies and their subcontractors enhance their cybersecurity.

“North Korea’s hacking attempts targeting defense technology will continue.” concludes the advisory. “The National Police Agency will continue to track and investigate state-sponsored hacking organizations linked to North Korea.”

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, North Korea)

The U.S. Department of State imposed visa restrictions on 13 individuals allegedly linked to the commercial spyware business.

The US Department of State is imposing visa restrictions on 13 individuals involved in the development and sale of commercial spyware or their immediate family members. The measure aims to counter the misuse of surveillance technology targeting journalists, academics, human rights defenders, dissidents, and US Government personnel, as documented in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

“the Department is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on 13 individuals who have been involved in the development and sale of commercial spyware or who are immediate family members of those involved.” reads the announcement.  “These individuals have facilitated or derived financial benefit from the misuse of this technology, which has targeted journalists, academics, human rights defenders, dissidents and other perceived critics, and U.S. Government personnel.”

The announcement doesn’t name the individuals targeted by the visa restrictions.

The visa restrictions are part of a broader initiative launched by the US government aimed at countering the proliferation of commercial spyware. Other measures proposed and adopted by the US authorities include restrictions on the government’s use of such spyware, export controls, and sanctions to promote accountability.

“The US government believes that the engagement of civil society and the private sector in identifying technological solutions to prevent the misuse of spyware, safeguard human rights defenders, and strengthen the resilience of victims is essential.”

In February, the U.S. State Department announced it is implementing a new policy to impose visa restrictions on individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.

The policy underscores the U.S. Government’s commitment to addressing the misuse of surveillance software, which poses a significant threat to society

“The misuse of commercial spyware threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.  Such targeting has been linked to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases.  Additionally, the misuse of these tools presents a security and counterintelligence threat to U.S. personnel.” reads the announcement. The United States stands on the side of human rights and fundamental freedoms and will continue to promote accountability for individuals involved in commercial spyware misuse.”

The policy specifically addresses the abuse of commercial spyware for unlawfully surveilling, harassing, suppressing, or intimidating individuals.

Visa restrictions target individuals believed to facilitate or derive financial benefit from the misuse of commercial spyware and also surveillance companies that act on behalf of governments.

The restrictions are extended to the immediate family members of the targeted individuals, including spouses and children of any age.

In March 2023, the US Government issued an Executive Order on the prohibition on use by the United States Government of commercial spyware that poses risks to national security.

In July 2023, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added surveillance technology vendors Intellexa and Cytrox to the Entity List for trafficking in cyber exploits used to gain access to information systems.

The Entity List maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is a trade control list created and maintained by the U.S. government. It identifies foreign individuals, organizations, companies, and government entities that are subject to specific export controls and restrictions due to their involvement in activities that threaten the U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.

The U.S. Government warns of the key role that surveillance technology plays in surveillance activities that can lead to repression and other human rights abuses.

The Commerce Department’s action targeted the above companies because their technology could contribute to the development of surveillance tools that pose a risk of misuse in violations or abuses of human rights.

The financial entities added to the Entity List include Intellexa S.A. in Greece, Cytrox Holdings Crt in Hungary, Intellexa Limited in Ireland, and Cytrox AD in North Macedonia.

In May 2023, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) researchers discovered three campaigns, between August and October 2021, targeting Android users with five zero-day vulnerabilities.

The attacks aimed at installing the surveillance spyware Predator, developed by the North Macedonian firm Cytrox.

According to Google, the exploits were included in Cytrox’s commercial surveillance spyware that is sold to different nation-state actors, including Egypt, Armenia, Greece, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Serbia, Spain, and Indonesia.

In December 2022, a report published by CitizenLab researchers detailed the use of the Predator spyware against exiled politician Ayman Nour and the host of a popular news program.

The disconcerting aspect of these attacks is that Ayman Nour’s phone was simultaneously infected with both Cytrox’s Predator and NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, operated by two different nation-state actors.

The exploits were used to initially deliver the ALIEN Android banking Trojan that acts as a loader for the PREDATOR implant.

In November 2021, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) sanctioned four companies for the development of spyware or the sale of hacking tools used by nation-state actors.

The surveillance firms were NSO Group and Candiru from Israel, Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE. LTD from Singapore, and Positive Technologies from Russia.

NSO Group and Candiru were sanctioned for the development and sale of surveillance software used to spy on journalists and activists. Positive Technologies and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE. LTD. are being sanctioned because both entities traffic in cyber exploits used by threat actors to compromise computer networks of organizations worldwide. The US authorities have added the companies to the Entity List based on their engagement in activities counter to U.S. national security.

In the last couple of years, like NSO Group and Candiru, made the headlines because totalitarian regimes used their spyware to spy on journalists, dissidents, and government opposition.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, commercial spyware)

A cyber attack has been disrupting operations at Synlab Italia, a leading provider of medical diagnosis services, since April 18.

Since April 18, Synlab Italia, a major provider of medical diagnosis services, has been experiencing disruptions due to a cyber attack.

The company initially cited technical issues as the cause leading to “temporary interruption of access to computer and telephone systems and related services.” However, a concerning scenario has emerged a few hours later.

The company has released a statement informing customers of the ongoing attack and has “disabled” all company computer systems in Italy as a precautionary measure.

Patients are facing significant disruptions, with many social media users complaining about their inability to access urgently needed diagnostic test results.

The company’s statement announced the suspension of all activities at sampling points, medical centers, and laboratories in Italy until further notice.

Synlab immediately investigated the incident and is working with external experts to contain it.

Certain passages of the statement raise particular concerns:

“SYNLAB informs all Patients and Customers that it has been the victim of a hacker attack on its computer systems throughout the national territory. As a precaution, all company computer systems in Italy were immediately disabled following the identification of the attack and in accordance with the company’s computer security procedures.”

[SYNLAB] is currently unable to determine when operations can be restored.

These statements highlight the need for the company to isolate systems to prevent the spread of the threat and mitigate its impact.

Such drastic containment measures are typically associated with malware infections, while the unavailability of affected systems often suggests a ransomware infection.

Therefore, companies that suffer a ransomware attack cannot predict when they will be operational again because they need to eradicate the threat from affected systems and restore any backups.

Another concern for companies affected by ransomware is the potential exfiltration of data. If health information is stolen in the case of SYNLAB Italy, it would pose a serious risk to affected customers’ privacy and security.

The latest update provided by the company states:

“Currently, the SYNLAB task force is analyzing every single part of the IT infrastructure, including backup systems, in order to restore its systems securely as soon as possible. The company has also filed a report with the Postal Police and initiated the preliminary notification procedure to the Italian Data Protection Authority.” reads the statement. “SYNLAB has apologized to its patients for the inconveniences caused by the current situation and has made available dedicated telephone and social media channels for managing requests and providing information, referring to all facilities in the territories. The company is continuously updating patients, clients, and the public through the website www.synlab.it and social media channels.”

A similar scenario occurred previously at the French branch of the group, Synlab.fr, when it was targeted in an attack by the Clop group, specializing in extortion activities. While the attacks appear unrelated, they serve as a warning for the entire sector.

The increasing number of attacks against healthcare companies exposes the medical information of millions of citizens, which remains easily accessible to criminals.

In February, 2024, a cybersecurity alert published by the FBI, CISA, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned U.S. healthcare organizations of targeted attacks conducted by ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware attacks.

The US agencies released a report containing IOCs and TTPs associated with the ALPHV Blackcat RaaS operation identified through law enforcement investigations conducted as recently as February 2024.

As for the SynLab case, further information on the incident is awaited as the company works to restore operations and secure user information.

Italian readers can give a look at my Post on the Italian Newspaper La Repubblica:

https://www.italian.tech/blog/sicuri-nella-rete/2024/04/19/news/synlab_attacco_hacker_dati_pazienti-422612040

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Synlab Italia)

Russia-linked APT28 group used a previously unknown tool, dubbed GooseEgg, to exploit Windows Print Spooler service flaw.

Microsoft reported that the Russia-linked APT28 group (aka “Forest Blizzard”, “Fancybear” or “Strontium” used a previously unknown tool, dubbed GooseEgg, to exploit the Windows Print Spooler flaw CVE-2022-38028.

Since at least June 2020, and possibly earlier, the cyberespionage group has used the tool GooseEgg to exploit the CVE-2022-38028 vulnerability. This tool modifies a JavaScript constraints file and executes it with SYSTEM-level permissions. Microsoft has observed APT28 using GooseEgg in post-compromise activities against various targets, including government, non-governmental, education, and transportation sector organizations in Ukraine, Western Europe, and North America.

While GooseEgg is a simple launcher application, threat actors can use it to execute other applications specified at the command line with elevated permissions. In a post-exploitation scenario, attackers can use the tool to carry out a broad range of malicious activities such as remote code execution, installing backdoors, and moving laterally through compromised networks.

The vulnerability CVE-2022-38028 was reported by the U.S. National Security Agency and Microsoft addressed it with the release of Microsoft October 2022 Patch Tuesday security updates.

APT28 deployed GooseEgg to gain elevated access to target systems and steal credentials and sensitive information.

GooseEgg is usually deployed with a batch script, commonly named execute.bat or doit.bat. This script creates a file named servtask.bat, which includes commands for saving or compressing registry hives. The batch script then executes the GooseEgg executable and establishes persistence by scheduling a tack that runs the servtask.bat.

The GooseEgg binary supports four commands, each with different run paths.

Microsoft researchers noted that an embedded malicious DLL file often contains the phrase “wayzgoose” in its name, such as wayzgoose23.dll. The cybers spies use GooseEgg to drop this embedded DLL file in the context of the PrintSpooler service with SYSTEM permissions.

“wayzgoose.dll is a basic launcher application capable of spawning other applications specified at the command line with SYSTEM-level permissions, enabling threat actors to perform other malicious activities such as installing a backdoor, moving laterally through compromised networks, and remotely executing code.” reads the report published by Microsoft.

Microsoft reports include instructions for detecting, hunting, and responding to GooseEgg.

The APT28 group (aka Forest Blizzard, Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit, BlueDelta, and STRONTIUM) has been active since at least 2007 and it has targeted governments, militaries, and security organizations worldwide. The group was involved also in the string of attacks that targeted 2016 Presidential election.

The group operates out of military unity 26165 of the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS).

Most of the APT28s’ campaigns leveraged spear-phishing and malware-based attacks.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, APT28)

A financially motivated group named GhostR claims the theft of a sensitive database from World-Check and threatens to publish it.

World-Check is a global database utilized by various organizations, including financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and law enforcement agencies, for assessing potential risks associated with individuals and entities. It compiles information from diverse sources like public records, regulatory filings, and proprietary databases to create profiles of entities susceptible to financial crime, terrorism, or corruption. World-Check aids organizations in conducting due diligence and adhering to regulatory standards concerning anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF).

World-Check is currently owned by LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group).

A financially motivated threat actor, called GhostR, announced the theft of a confidential database containing 5.3 million records from the World-Check.

The threat actor said that he stole the database in March and threatened to publish the data online.

The hackers told TechCrunch that they stole the database from a Singapore-based company that has access to the sensitive database, however, they did not name the victim organization.

The threat actors shared a portion of the stolen data with TechCrunch as proof of the hack, it includes records on current and former government officials, diplomats, and politically exposed people. The list also includes criminals, suspected terrorists, intelligence operatives and a European spyware firm.

Compromised data vary by individuals and organizations, it includes names, passport numbers, Social Security numbers, online crypto account identifiers and bank account numbers, and more.

World-Check had different owners across the years, it was originally founded as an independent company. Curiously, in 2011, Thomson Reuters acquired World-Check, then in October 2018, Thomson Reuters closed a deal with The Blackstone Group. As a result of this merger, World-Check became part of the new company, Refinitiv. LSEG acquired Refinitiv is 2021.

The disclosure of data in the archive poses a threat to the individuals whose data it contains. This is sensitive information that could lead to discrimination, persecution, or otherwise cause harm to individuals by violating their privacy and exposing them to various types of cyberattacks.

The database was criticized because it includes names of people and organizations that are mistakenly considered terrorists.

In June 2016, security researcher Chris Vickery found a copy of the World-Check database dated 2014 that was accidentally exposed online.

In August 2015, journalists from BBC’s Radio 4 gained 30 minutes of access thanks to the support of a disgruntled customer and demonstrated that the designations in the archive were inaccurate.

The Vice News also gained access to the World-Check archive in February 2016 arriving at the same conclusion after it analyzed some profiles in the database

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, GhostR)

Researcher demonstrated how to exploit vulnerabilities in the Windows DOS-to-NT path conversion process to achieve rootkit-like capabilities.

SafeBreach researcher Or Yair devised a technique, exploiting vulnerabilities in the DOS-to-NT path conversion process, to achieve rootkit-like capabilities on Windows.

When a user executes a function with a path argument in Windows, the DOS path of the file or folder is converted to an NT path. However, a known issue arises during this conversion process where the function removes trailing dots from any path element and trailing spaces from the last path element. This behavior is consistent across most user-space APIs in Windows.

The expert exploiting this known issue discovered the following vulnerabilities:

• CVE-2023-36396 Windows Compressed Folder Remote Code Execution Vulnerability – The RCE issue resides in Windows’s new extraction logic for all newly supported archive types. The expert craft a malicious archive that would write anywhere he chose on a remote computer once extracted, leading to code execution.
• CVE-2023-32054 Volume Shadow Copy Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability – An can exploit this issue to gain the rights of the user that is running the affected application. The researchers discovered two elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities. The CVE-2023-32054 allowed him to write into files without the required privileges by manipulating the restoration process of a previous version from a shadow copy and another that allowed him to delete files without the required privileges.

“In addition to leading me to these vulnerabilities, the MagicDot paths also granted me rootkit-like abilities that were accessible to any unprivileged user.” wrote Or Yair. “I discovered how a malicious actor—without admin privileges—could hide files and processes, hide files in archives, affect prefetch file analysis, make Task Manager and Process Explorer users think a malware file was a verified executable published by Microsoft, disable Process Explorer with a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability, and more.”

A user-space rootkit aims to intercept user-space API calls, execute the original function, filter out malicious data, and return altered information to the caller. An attacker needs Admin privileges to run such rootkits, as they need to conceal their presence from users, including administrators, by operating within processes with elevated privileges.

A kernel rootkit operates within the kernel and attempts to intercept system calls, altering the information returned to user-space processes that request it.

Running a kernel rootkit requires access to the kernel, typically requiring administrative privileges and overcoming various security measures such as Patch Guard, Driver Signature Enforcement, Driver Blocklist, and HVCI. Consequently, the prevalence of kernel rootkits has decreased significantly.

The expert reported to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) in 2023. The IT giant acknowledged these issues and took the following action:  

• Remote Code Execution (CVE-2023-36396, CVSS: 7.8): fixed by Microsoft.
• Elevation of Privilege (Write) (CVE-2023-32054, CVSS: 7.3): fixed by Microsoft.
• Elevation of Privilege (Deletion): The vulnerability was reproduced and confirmed by Microsoft. However, the company did not issue a CVE or a fix. Below is the response provided by Microsoft. “Thank you again for submitting this issue to Microsoft. We determined that this issue does not require immediate security service but did reveal unexpected behavior. A fix for this issue will be considered in a future version of this product or service.” 
• Process Explorer Unprivileged DOS for Anti-Analysis (CVE-2023-42757): fixed by the engineering team of Process Explorer in version 17.04. CVE-2023-42757 was reserved for this vulnerability by MITRE. MITRE confirmed the vulnerability with Microsoft and will publish the CVE once online publication of the details is available. 

“This research is the first of its kind to explore how known issues that appear to be harmless can be exploited to develop vulnerabilities and, ultimately, pose a significant security risk. We believe the implications are relevant not only to Microsoft Windows, which is the world’s most widely used desktop OS, but also to all software vendors, most of whom also allow known issues to persist from version to version of their software.” Yair concluded.

The report includes video PoCs for these vulnerabilities-

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Microsoft)

Japan’s CERT warns of a vulnerability in the Forminator WordPress plugin that allows unrestricted file uploads to the server.

Japan’s CERT warned that the WordPress plugin Forminator, developed by WPMU DEV, is affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including a flaw that allows unrestricted file uploads to the server.

Forminator is a popular WordPress plugin that allows users to easily create various forms for their website without needing any coding knowledge. The plugin is installed in over 500,000.

One of these vulnerabilities is a critical issue, tracked as CVE-2024-28890 (CVSS v3: 9.8) that a remote attacker can exploit to upload malicious code on WordPress sites using the plugin.

“A remote attacker may obtain sensitive information by accessing files on the server, alter the site that uses the plugin and cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition (CVE-2024-28890)” read the security bulletin published by the JPCERT.

The bulletin also warns of the following these vulnerabilities:

• CVE-2024-31077 (CVSS score 7.2) – SQL injection flaw – An administrative user may obtain and alter any information in the database and cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition
• CVE-2024-31857 (CVSS score 6.1) – Cross-site scripting flaw – A remote attacker may obtain user information etc. and alter the page contents on the user’s web browser

Forminator versions 1.29.3 addressed all the vulnerabilities, admins are recommended to update their installs asap

At the time of this writing, researchers have reports of attacks in the wild exploiting the vulnerability CVE-2024-28890.

According to statistics provided by WordPress.org, the plugin has over 500,000 active installations, but only 55,9% (over 279) are running version 1.29.

This means that more than 200,000 sites are vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, WordPress)

Government agencies revealed that Akira ransomware has breached over 250 entities worldwide and received over $42 million in ransom payments.

A joint advisory published by CISA, the FBI, Europol, and the Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL) revealed that since early 2023, Akira ransomware operators received $42 million in ransom payments from more than 250 victims worldwide.

The Akira ransomware has been active since March 2023, the threat actors behind the malware claim to have already hacked multiple organizations in multiple industries, including education, finance, and real estate. Like other ransomware gangs, the group has developed a Linux encryptor to target VMware ESXi servers.

The Akira ransomware operators implement a double extortion model by exfiltrating victims’ data before encrypting it.

Earlier versions of the ransomware were written in C++ and the malware added the .akira extension to the encrypted files. However, from August 2023 onwards, certain Akira attacks began utilizing Megazord, which employs Rust-based code and encrypts files with a .powerranges extension. Akira threat actors have persisted in employing both Megazord and Akira, including Akira_v2, identified by independent investigations, interchangeably.

The cybersecurity researchers observed threat actors obtaining initial access to organizations through a virtual private network (VPN) service without multifactor authentication (MFA) configured. The attackers mostly used Cisco vulnerabilities CVE-2020-3259 and CVE-2023-20269.

Akira operators were also observed using external-facing services such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), spear phishing, and the abuse of valid credentials.

Following initial access, threat actors were observed exploiting domain controller’ functions by generating new domain accounts to establish persistence. In some attacks, threat actors created an administrative account named itadm.

“According to FBI and open source reporting, Akira threat actors leverage post-exploitation attack techniques, such as Kerberoasting, to extract credentials stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). Akira threat actors also use credential scraping tools like Mimikatz and LaZagne to aid in privilege escalation.” reads the report. “Tools like SoftPerfect and Advanced IP Scanner are often used for network device discovery (reconnaissance) purposes and net Windows commands are used to identify domain controllers and gather information on domain trust relationships.“

Akira operators have been observed deploying two distinct ransomware variants against different system architectures within the same attack. It was this first time that the operators adopted this tactic.

The operators frequently disable security software to evade detection and for lateral movement. The government experts observed the use of PowerTool by Akira threat actors to exploit the Zemana AntiMalware driver and terminate antivirus-related processes.

Threat actors use FileZilla, WinRAR, WinSCP, and RClone for data exfiltration. The attackers use AnyDesk, Cloudflare Tunnel, RustDesk, Ngrok, and Cloudflare Tunnel to communicate with the command-and-control (C&C).

“Akira threat actors utilize a sophisticated hybrid encryption scheme to lock data. This involves combining a ChaCha20 stream cipher with an RSA public-key cryptosystem for speed and secure key exchange. This multilayered approach tailors encryption methods based on file type and size and is capable of full or partial encryption.” concludes the advisory that includes indicators of compromise (IoCs).”

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Akira ransomware)

Threat actors target government entities in the Middle East with a new backdoor dubbed CR4T as part of an operation tracked as DuneQuixote.

Researchers from Kaspersky discovered the DuneQuixote campaign in February 2024, but they believe the activity may have been active since 2023.

Kaspersky discovered over 30 DuneQuixote dropper samples used in the campaign. The experts identified two versions of the dropper, regular droppers (in the form of an executable or a DLL file) and tampered installer files for a legitimate tool named “Total Commander.”

The droppers were employed to download a backdoor tracked as “CR4T”. The experts detected only two CR4T implants, but they speculate the existence of many other variants which may be completely different malware.

The threat actors behind the DuneQuixote campaign took steps to prevent collection and analysis the implants through the implementation of practical and well-designed evasion methods.

The dropper connects to an embedded command-and-control (C2), whose address is hardcoded in the malicious code and is decrypted using a unique technique to prevent its exposure to automated malware analysis tools.

“The initial dropper is a Windows x64 executable file, although there are also DLL versions of the malware sharing the same functionality. The malware is developed in C/C++ without utilizing the Standard Template Library (STL), and certain segments are coded in pure Assembler.” reads the analysis published by Kaspersky. “The dropper then proceeds to decrypt the C2 (Command and Control) address, employing a unique technique designed to prevent the exposure of the C2 to automated malware analysis systems. This method involves first retrieving the filename under which the dropper was executed, then concatenating this filename with one of the hardcoded strings from Spanish poems. Following this, the dropper calculates the MD5 hash of the concatenated string, which is then used as a key for decrypting the C2 string.”

The threat actors used strings in these functions consisting of excerpts from Spanish poems. The strings differ from one sample to another, altering the signature of each sample to avoid detection through conventional methods. Then, after executing decoy functions, the malware constructs a framework for the required API calls. This framework is filled with offsets of Windows API functions, resolved through various techniques.

The dropper calculates the MD5 hash of the combined string and uses it as the key to decode the C2 server address. Then the dropper connects with the C2 server and downloads a next-stage payload.

The researchers noticed that the payload can only be downloaded once per victim or is only accessible for a short period after a malware sample is released, for this reason, researchers were unable to obtain most of the payload implants from active C2 servers.

The Total Commander installer dropper is designed to appear like a genuine Total Commander software installer but includes additional malicious components. These alterations invalidate the official digital signature of the Total Commander installer. This version of the dropper maintains the core functionality of the initial dropper but excludes Spanish poem strings and decoy functions. Additionally, it incorporates anti-analysis measures and checks to prevent connections to C2 resources.

The experts also spotted a Golang version of the CR4T implant that shares similar capabilities with the C version. It includes a command line console for machine interaction, file download/upload functions, and command execution capabilities. Notably, the malware can create scheduled tasks using the Golang Go-ole library, which interfaces with the Windows Component Object Model (COM) for Task Scheduler service interaction.

The malware achieves persistence through the COM objects hijacking technique. The malware uses the Telegram API for C2 communications, implementing the public Golang Telegram API bindings. All the interactions are similar to the C/C++ version.

“The “DuneQuixote” campaign targets entities in the Middle East with an interesting array of tools designed for stealth and persistence. Through the deployment of memory-only implants and droppers masquerading as legitimate software, mimicking the Total Commander installer, the attackers demonstrate above average evasion capabilities and techniques.” concludes the report. “The discovery of both C/C++ and Golang versions of the CR4T implant highlights the adaptability and resourcefulness of the threat actors behind this campaign.“

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, malware)

A new round of the weekly SecurityAffairs newsletter arrived! Every week the best security articles from Security Affairs are free for you in your email box.

Enjoy a new round of the weekly SecurityAffairs newsletter, including the international press.

Critical CrushFTP zero-day exploited in attacks in the wild

A French hospital was forced to reschedule procedures after cyberattack

MITRE revealed that nation-state actors breached its systems via Ivanti zero-days

FBI chief says China is preparing to attack US critical infrastructure

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) investigates data breach

FIN7 targeted a large U.S. carmaker with phishing attacks

Law enforcement operation dismantled phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost

Previously unknown Kapeka backdoor linked to Russian Sandworm APT

Cisco warns of a command injection escalation flaw in its IMC. PoC publicly available

Linux variant of Cerber ransomware targets Atlassian servers

Ivanti fixed two critical flaws in its Avalanche MDMResearchers released exploit code for actively exploited Palo Alto PAN-OS bug

Cisco warns of large-scale brute-force attacks against VPN and SSH services

PuTTY SSH Client flaw allows of private keys recovery

A renewed espionage campaign targets South Asia with iOS spyware LightSpy

Misinformation and hacktivist campaigns targeting the Philippines skyrocket

Russia is trying to sabotage European railways, Czech minister said

Cisco Duo warns telephony supplier data breach exposed MFA SMS logs

Ukrainian Blackjack group used ICS malware Fuxnet against Russian targets

CISA adds Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Command Injection flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

Threat actors exploited Palo Alto Pan-OS issue to deploy a Python Backdoor

U.S. and Australian police arrested Firebird RAT author and operator

Canadian retail chain Giant Tiger data breach may have impacted millions of customers

International Press Newsletter

Cybercrime    

SoCal Man Arrested on Federal Charges Alleging He Schemed to Advertise and Sell ‘Hive’ Computer Intrusion Malware

AFP traps alleged RAT developer      

Ransomware Group Claims Theft of Data From Chipmaker Nexperia  

International investigation disrupts phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost   

Threat Group FIN7 Targets the U.S. Automotive Industry  

Chinese Organized Crime’s Latest U.S. Target: Gift Cards

Ransomware Victims Who Pay a Ransom Drops to Record Low  

840-bed hospital in France postpones procedures after cyberattack  

Malware

Unpacking the Blackjack Group’s Fuxnet Malware  

LightSpy Returns: Renewed Espionage Campaign Targets Southern Asia, Possibly India  

Cerber Ransomware: Dissecting the three heads  

Kapeka: A novel backdoor spotted in Eastern Europe  

OfflRouter virus causes Ukrainian users to upload confidential documents to VirusTotal 

Hacking 

Hacker claims Giant Tiger data breach, leaks 2.8M records online

Zero-Day Exploitation of Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in GlobalProtect (CVE-2024-3400)

PuTTY vulnerability vuln-p521-bias

Palo Alto – Putting The Protecc In GlobalProtect (CVE-2024-3400)     

Large-scale brute-force activity targeting VPNs, SSH services with commonly used login credentials  

Cisco discloses root escalation flaw with public exploit code

SteganoAmor campaign: TA558 mass-attacking companies and public institutions all around the world  

CrushFTP Virtual Filesystem Escape Vulnerability in the Wild   

Intelligence and Information Warfare 

Threat Brief: Operation MidnightEclipse, Post-Exploitation Activity Related to CVE-2024-3400 

Misinformation And Hacktivist Campaigns Target The Philippines Amidst Rising Tensions With China 

FBI says Chinese hackers preparing to attack US infrastructure  

Russia-linked hacking group suspected of carrying out cyberattack on Texas water facility, cybersecurity firm says

Cybersecurity   

United Nations Agency Investigating Ransomware Attack Involving Data Theft

House passes bill banning Uncle Sam from snooping on citizens via data brokers

UNDP Investigates Cyber-Security Incident  

GT exclusive: Volt Typhoon false narrative a collusion among US politicians, intelligence community and companies to cheat funding, defame China: report 

ICS Network Controllers Open to Remote Exploit, No Patches Available     

Advanced Cyber Threats Impact Even the Most Prepared

Government Releases Guidance on Securing Election Infrastructure     

Warrantless spying powers extended to 2026 with Biden’s signature  

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, newsletter)

Threat actors exploited a critical zero-day vulnerability in the CrushFTP enterprise in targeted attacks, Crowdstrike experts warn.

CrushFTP is a file transfer server software that enables secure and efficient file transfer capabilities. It supports various features such as FTP, SFTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV, and WebDAV SSL protocols, allowing users to transfer files securely over different networks. CrushFTP also provides support for automation, scripting, user management, and extensive customization options to meet the diverse needs of businesses and organizations.

CrushFTP has notified users of a virtual file system escape vulnerability impacting their FTP software, which could potentially enable users to download system files.

“CrushFTP v11 versions below 11.1 have a vulnerability where users can escape their VFS and download system files. This has been patched in v11.1.0. Customers using a DMZ in front of their main CrushFTP instance are protected with its protocol translation system it utilizes.” reads the advisory.

Simon Garrelou from the Airbus CERT discovered the vulnerability.

Crowdstrike researchers discovered that threat actors exploited the critical zero-day vulnerability in targeted attacks in the wild.

“On April 19, 2024, CrushFTP advised of a virtual file system escape present in their FTP software that could allows users to download system files. Falcon OverWatch and Falcon Intelligence have observed this exploit being used in the wild in a targeted fashion.” reads a post published by Crowdstrike on Reddit.

The vulnerability has yet to receive CVE.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, zero-day)

A French hospital was forced to return to pen and paper and postpone medical treatments after a cyber attack.

A cyber attack hit Hospital Simone Veil in Cannes (CHC-SV) on Tuesday, impacting medical procedures and forcing personnel to return to pen and paper.

The Hospital Simone Veil in Cannes is a public hospital located in Cannes, France. The hospital provides a range of medical services and healthcare facilities to the local community and surrounding areas.

CHC-SV has more than 2,000 employees and has a capacity of more than 800 beds.

The website of the hospital states that “Cyberattack in progress! All non-urgent consultations should be reconsidered.”

Non-urgent surgical procedures and consultations scheduled for this week have been postponed.

The French hospital was forced to take all computers offline while the telephone lines were not impacted The hospital is investigating the incident with the help of ANSSI, Cert Santé, Orange CyberDéfense, and GHT06.

The organization hasn’t received any ransom demands and hasn’t identified a data breach.

“CHC-SV was the target of a cyber attack on Tuesday morning. General cybercontainment was one of the first decisions of the crisis unit. This radical decision was taken very quickly in all sectors. All computer access was consequently cut off. Telephony continues to work.” reads the announcement. “There have been no ransom demands or data theft identified at this stage. Investigations remain ongoing.”

The hospital ensured continuity of operations in emergency care, internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, home hospitalization, and rehabilitation.

“The CHC-SV had never been the victim of a cyberattack of this type. Cyber ​​risk is one of the priority risks identified in the establishment’s risk map. Exercises have been held over the past few months, allowing for strong responsiveness to the event.” concludes the announcement.

“The return to normal will depend on technical investigations and the necessary catch-up. Feedback from other hospitals that have been the subject of a cyberattack shows that this return to normal can take a long time.”

In December 2022, the Hospital Centre of Versailles was hit by a cyber attack that forced it to cancel operations and transfer some patients in other hospitals.

In August 2022, the Center Hospitalier Sud Francilien (CHSF), a hospital southeast of Paris, suffered a ransomware attack over the weekend. The attack disrupted the emergency services and surgeries and forced the hospital to refer patients to other structures. According to local media, threat actors demand a $10 million ransom to provide the decryption key to restore encrypted data.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, French hospital)

The MITRE Corporation revealed that a nation-state actor compromised its systems in January 2024 by exploiting Ivanti VPN zero-days.

In April 2024, MITRE disclosed a security breach in one of its research and prototyping networks. The security team at the organization promptly launched an investigation, logged out the threat actor, and engaged third-party forensics Incident Response teams to conduct independent analysis in collaboration with internal experts.

According to the MITRE Corporation, a nation state actor breached its systems in January 2024 by chaining two Ivanti Connect Secure zero-day vulnerabilities.

“Starting in January 2024, a threat actor performed reconnaissance of our networks, exploited one of our Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) through two Ivanti Connect Secure zero-day vulnerabilities, and skirted past our multi-factor authentication using session hijacking. From there, they moved laterally and dug deep into our network’s VMware infrastructure using a compromised administrator account.” reads a post published by the organization on Medium. “They employed a combination of sophisticated backdoors and webshells to maintain persistence and harvest credentials.”

MITRE spotted a foreign nation-state threat actor probing its Networked Experimentation, Research, and Virtualization Environment (NERVE), used for research and prototyping. The organization immediately started mitigation actions which included taking NERVE offline. The investigation is still ongoing to determine the extent of information involved.

The organization notified authorities and affected parties and is working to restore operational alternatives for collaboration. 

Despite MITRE diligently following industry best practices, implementing vendor recommendations, and complying with government guidance to strengthen, update, and fortify its Ivanti system, they overlooked the lateral movement into their VMware infrastructure.

The organization said that the core enterprise network or partners’ systems were not affected by this incident.

“No organization is immune from this type of cyber attack, not even one that strives to maintain the highest cybersecurity possible,” said Jason Providakes, president and CEO, MITRE. “We are disclosing this incident in a timely manner because of our commitment to operate in the public interest and to advocate for best practices that enhance enterprise security as well necessary measures to improve the industry’s current cyber defense posture. The threats and cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and require increased vigilance and defense approaches. As we have previously, we will share our learnings from this experience to help others and evolve our own practices.”

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Ivanti)

China-linked threat actors are preparing cyber attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure warned FBI Director Christopher Wray.

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned this week that China-linked threat actors are preparing an attack against U.S. critical infrastructure, Reuters reported.

According to the FBI chief, the Chinese hackers are waiting “for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow.”

In February, US CISA, the NSA, the FBI, along with partner Five Eyes agencies, published a joint advisory to warn that China-linked APT Volt Typhoon infiltrated a critical infrastructure network in the US and remained undetected for at least five years.

“the U.S. authoring agencies have recently observed indications of Volt Typhoon actors maintaining access and footholds within some victim IT environments for at least five years,” reads the alert.

The Volt Typhoon group has been active since at least mid-2021 it carried out cyber operations against critical infrastructure. In the most recent campaign, the group targeted organizations in the communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education sectors.

The APT group is using almost exclusively living-off-the-land techniques and hands-on-keyboard activity to evade detection.

In December 2023, Microsoft first noticed that to conceal malicious traffic, the threat actor routes it through compromised small office and home office (SOHO) network devices, including routers, firewalls, and VPN hardware. The group also relies on customized versions of open-source tools for C2 communications and to stay under the radar.

The Chinese cyberespionage group has successfully breached the networks of multiple US critical infrastructure organizations. Most of the impacted organizations are in the Communications, Energy, Transportation Systems, and Water and Wastewater Systems sectors.

“The group also relies on valid accounts and leverage strong operational security, which combined, allows for long-term undiscovered persistence. In fact, the U.S. authoring agencies have recently observed indications of Volt Typhoon actors maintaining access and footholds within some victim IT environments for at least five years.” continues the alert. “Volt Typhoon actors conduct extensive pre-exploitation reconnaissance to learn about the target organization and its environment; tailor their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to the victim’s environment; and dedicate ongoing resources to maintaining persistence and understanding the target environment over time, even after initial compromise.”

U.S. agencies fear the possibility that these actors could gain access to the networks of critical infrastructure to cause disruptive effects in the event of potential geopolitical tensions and/or military conflicts.

The Volt Typhoon’s activities suggest that the group primarily aims to establish a foothold within networks to secure access to Operational Technology (OT) assets.

The US agencies also released a technical guide containing recommendations to identify and mitigate living off the land techniques adopted by the APT group.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson recently stated that the Volt Typhoon activity is not associated with Beijing, but linked it to a cybercrime operation.

Wray confirmed that Volt Typhoon’s campaign is still ongoing and breached numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors.

The state-sponsored hackers also targeted 23 pipeline operators, Wray revealed during a speech at Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats.

The FBI Director remarked that China is developing the “ability to physically wreak havoc on US critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” “Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic.”

Wray explained that it is difficult to determine the purpose behind the cyber pre-positioning, however, the activity is part of a broader strategy to dissuade the U.S. from defending Taiwan.

Wray added that the China-linked actors employed a series of botnets in their activities.

In December, the Black Lotus Labs team at Lumen Technologies linked a small office/home office (SOHO) router botnet, tracked as KV-Botnet to the operations of China-linked threat actor Volt Typhoon. The botnet is comprised of two complementary activity clusters, the experts believe it has been active since at least February 2022. The threat actors target devices at the edge of networks.

The KV-Botnet is composed of end-of-life products used by SOHO devices. In early July and August of 2022, the researchers noticed several Cisco RV320s, DrayTek Vigor routers, and NETGEAR ProSAFEs that were part of the botnet. Later, in November 2022, most of the devices composing the botnet were ProSAFE devices, and a smaller number of DrayTek routers. In November 2023, the experts noticed that the botnet started targeting Axis IP cameras, such as the M1045-LW, M1065-LW, and p1367-E. 

The researchers pointed out that the use of the KV-Botnet is limited to China-linked actors. Thus far the victimology aligns primarily with a strategic interest in the Indo-Pacific region, the experts observed a focus on ISPs and government organizations.

About the author: Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, China)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has initiated an investigation into an alleged ransomware attack and the subsequent theft of data.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is investigating an alleged ransomware attack that resulted in data theft.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development.

The cyber attack recently targeted the IT infrastructure of the Agency in UN City, Copenhagen.

On March 27, UNDP became aware that a data-extortion threat actor had stolen data, including human resources and procurement information.

“On March 27, UNDP received a threat intelligence notification that a data-extortion actor had stolen data which included certain human resources and procurement information.” reads the statement published by the Agency. “Actions were immediately taken to identify a potential source and contain the affected server as well as to determine the specifics of the exposed data and who was impacted.” 

UNDP is investigating the security incident to determine the scope of the cyberattack. The agency is keeping individuals affected by the breach updated and sharing information with other stakeholders, including its partners across the UN system.

“UNDP takes this incident extremely seriously and we reiterate our dedication to data security. We are committed to continue working to detect and minimize the risk of cyber-attacks.” continues the statement.

UNDP did not share details about the attack, however, on March 27, 2024, the ransomware group 8base added the agency to its Tor leak site (the Tor leak site is unavailable at the time of this writing).

The extortion group as yet to publish the stolen data.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, United Nations Development Programme)

BlackBerry reported that the financially motivated group FIN7 targeted the IT department of a large U.S. carmaker with spear-phishing attacks.

In late 2023, BlackBerry researchers spotted the threat actor FIN7 targeting a large US automotive manufacturer with a spear-phishing campaign. FIN7 targeted employees who worked in the company’s IT department and had higher levels of administrative rights.

The attackers employed the lure of a free IP scanning tool to infect the systems with the Anunak backdoor and gain an initial foothold using living-off-the-land binaries, scripts, and libraries (lolbas).

FIN7 is a Russian criminal group (aka Carbanak) that has been active since mid-2015, it focuses on restaurants, gambling, and hospitality industries in the US to harvest financial information that was used in attacks or sold in cybercrime marketplaces.

Fin7 was observed using the PowerShell script POWERTRASH, which is a custom obfuscation of the shellcode invoker in PowerSploit.

In the attacks analyzed by BlackBarry, threat actors used a typosquatting technique, they used a malicious URL “advanced-ip-sccanner[.]com” masquerading as the legitimate website “advanced-ip-scanner[.]com”, which is a free online scanner.

Upon visiting the rogue site, visitors are redirected to “myipscanner[.]com”, which in turn redirected them to an attacker-owned Dropbox that downloaded the malicious executable WsTaskLoad.exe onto their systems.

Upon execution, the executable initiates a complex multi-stage process comprising DLLs, WAV files, and shellcode execution. This process culminates in the loading and decryption of a file called ‘dmxl.bin,’ which contains the Anunak payload.

The threat actors used WsTaskLoad.exe to install OpenSSH to maintain persistence, they used scheduled task to persist OpenSSH on the victim’s machine.

While historical data demonstrate that FIN7 often employs OpenSSH for lateral movement, no such activity was detected in this particular campaign. OpenSSH is also used for external access.

“While the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) involved in this campaign have been well documented over the past year, the OpenSSH proxy servers utilized by the attackers have not been disseminated.” concludes the report that also includes recommendations for Mitigation and IoCs (Indicators of Compromise). “BlackBerry thinks it prudent to enable individuals and entities to also identify these hosts and protect themselves.”

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, FIN7)

An international law enforcement operation led to the disruption of the prominent phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost.

An international law enforcement operation, codenamed Nebulae and coordinated by Europol, led to the disruption of LabHost, which is one of the world’s largest phishing-as-a-service platforms.

Law enforcement from 19 countries participated in the operation which resulted in the arrest of 37 individuals.

The phishing-as-a-service platform was available on the clear web and has been shut down by the police.

Between April 14th and April 17th, law enforcement agencies conducted searches at 70 addresses worldwide, leading to the arrest of the suspects. Four individuals, including the original developer of LabHost, were arrested in the United Kingdom.

Phishing as a service (PaaS) platforms provide phishing tools and resources to crooks, often for a fee or subscription. These tools typically include pre-designed phishing templates, email or text message sending capabilities, website hosting services for phishing pages. Most important PhaaS platforms also provide technical support to their customers.

LabHost was a prominent tool for cybercriminals globally, offering a subscription-based service that facilitated phishing attacks. The platform provided phishing kits, hosting infrastructure, interactive features for engaging victims, and campaign management tools. The investigation conducted by law enforcement revealed approximately 40,000 phishing domains associated with LabHost, which reached 10,000 users worldwide. Subscribers paid an average monthly fee of $249 for use the platform’s services. LabHost offered a selection of over 170 convincing fake websites for users to deploy with ease.

“What made LabHost particularly destructive was its integrated campaign management tool named LabRat. This feature allowed cybercriminals deploying the attacks to monitor and control those attacks in real time. LabRat was designed to capture two-factor authentication codes and credentials, allowing the criminals to bypass enhanced security measures.” reads the announcement published by Europol

Australian police arrested five individuals across the country as part of the operation, the authorities reported that more than 94,000 people in Australia were victims of the attacks launched through the platform.

“Australian offenders are allegedly among 10,000 cybercriminals globally who have used the platform, known as LabHost, to trick victims into providing their personal information, such as online banking logins, credit card details and passwords, through persistent phishing attacks sent via texts and emails.” reported the AFP.

“As a result of the Australian arm of the investigation, led by the AFP’s Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JCP3), more than 200 officers from the AFP and state and territory police were yesterday (17 April, 2024) involved in executing 22 search warrants across five states. This included 14 in Victoria, two in Queensland, three in NSW, one in South Australia and two in Western Australia. A Melbourne man and an Adelaide man, who police will allege were LabHost users, were arrested during the warrants and charged with cybercrime-related offences. Three Melbourne men were also arrested by Victoria Police and charged with drug-related offences.”

The U.K. Metropolitan Police said LabHost’s sites have ensnared approximately 70,000 victims in the UK alone. On a global scale, the service has acquired 480,000 card numbers, 64,000 PIN numbers, and over one million passwords for various online services. The actual number of victims is anticipated to surpass current estimates, with ongoing efforts focused on identifying and assisting as many affected individuals as feasible.

Operators behind the PhaaS received about £1 million in payments from criminal users since its launch.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, PhaaS)

Russia-linked APT Sandworm employed a previously undocumented backdoor called Kapeka in attacks against Eastern Europe since 2022.

WithSecure researchers identified a new backdoor named Kapeka that has been used in attacks targeting victims in Eastern Europe since at least mid-2022. The backdoor is very sophisticated, it serves as both an initial toolkit and as a backdoor for maintaining long-term access to compromised systems. The nature of the targets, low detection rate, and sophisticated malware-supported features suggest that an APT group developed it.

WithSecure noticed overlaps between Kapeka and GreyEnergy and the Prestige ransomware attacks which are attributed to the Russia-linked Sandworm APT group. WithSecure believes that Kapeka is likely part of the Sandworm’s arsenal.

The Sandworm group (aka BlackEnergy, UAC-0082, Iron Viking, Voodoo Bear, and TeleBots) has been active since 2000, it operates under the control of Unit 74455 of the Russian GRU’s Main Center for Special Technologies (GTsST). The group is also the author of the NotPetya ransomware that hit hundreds of companies worldwide in June 2017. In 2022, the Russian APT used multiple wipers in attacks aimed at Ukraine,including AwfulShred, CaddyWiper, HermeticWiper, Industroyer2, IsaacWiper, WhisperGate, Prestige, RansomBoggs, and ZeroWipe. 

“Kapeka contains a dropper that will drop and launch a backdoor on a victim’s machine and then remove itself. The backdoor will first collect information and fingerprint both the machine and user before sending the details on to the threat actor.” states WithSecure. “This allows tasks to be passed back to the machine or the backdoor’s configuration to be updated. WithSecure do not have insight as to how the Kapeka backdoor is propagated by Sandworm.”

The researcher speculates that Kapeka is a successor to GreyEnergy, which itself was likely a replacement for BlackEnergy in Sandworm.

Kapeka includes a dropper that acts as a launcher for a backdoor component on the infected host, after which it removes itself. The dropper also sets up persistence for the backdoor through a scheduled task (if admin or SYSTEM) or autorun registry (if not).

The Kapeka backdoor is a Windows DLL, which has a single exported function. The malware masqueraded as a Microsoft Word Add-In (.wll) file. It is written in C++ and compiled with Visual Studio 2017 (15.9). Upon execution, it requires the “-d” argument in the initial run but not for subsequent executions. The malware has a multi-threaded implementation, utilizing event objects for thread synchronization and signaling.

The backdoor employs the WinHttp 5.1 COM interface (winhttpcom.dll) for its network communication module. It interacts with its C2 server to fetch tasks and relay fingerprinted data and task outcomes. The malware uses JSON for C2 communication. Two distinct threads manage network communication: one for sending fingerprinted data and fetching tasks, and another for transmitting completed task results to the C2. Both threads utilize the same request/response mechanism.

The backdoor can update its C2 configuration dynamically by receiving a new JSON configuration (with the key “GafpPS”) from the C2 server during polling. If the received configuration differs from the current one, the backdoor updates its configuration on-the-fly and stores the latest C2 configuration in the registry value (“Seed”). The backdoor can also perform various tasks on the infected system by receiving a list of tasks as a JSON response (with the key “Td7opP”) from its C2 server during polling. The malicious code spawns a separate thread to execute each task.

“The backdoor’s victimology, infrequent sightings, and level of stealth and sophistication indicate APT-level activity, highly likely of Russian origin. However, due to sparsity of data at the time of writing the infection vector, the threat actor, and the actor’s ‘actions on objectives’ cannot be conclusively stated. Nevertheless, we examined multiple data points that strongly suggests a link between Kapeka and Sandworm”

Pierluigi Paganini

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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Sandworm)

Cisco has addressed a high-severity vulnerability in its Integrated Management Controller (IMC) for which publicly available exploit code exists.

Cisco has addressed a high-severity Integrated Management Controller (IMC) vulnerability and is aware of a public exploit code for this issue. The PoC exploit code allows a local attacker to escalate privileges to root.

Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) is a baseboard management controller (BMC) that provides embedded server management for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers and Cisco UCS S-Series Storage Servers.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-20295, resides in the CLI of the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC). A local, authenticated attacker can exploit the vulnerability to conduct command injection attacks on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. The IT giant reported that to exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have read-only or higher privileges on an affected device.

“This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root.” reads the advisory.

The flaw impacts the following products if they are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IMC in the default configuration:

• 5000 Series Enterprise Network Compute Systems (ENCS)
• Catalyst 8300 Series Edge uCPE
• UCS C-Series Rack Servers in standalone mode
• UCS E-Series Servers

The IT giant devices that are based on a preconfigured version of a UCS C-Series Server are also impacted by this flaw if they expose access to the IMC CLI. 

The company states that there are no workarounds to solve this vulnerability.

The Cisco PSIRT is aware that proof-of-concept exploit code is available for this vulnerability, however it is not aware of attacks in the wild exploiting it.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, PoC exploit)

Threat actors are exploiting the CVE-2023-22518 flaw in Atlassian servers to deploy a Linux variant of Cerber (aka C3RB3R) ransomware.

At the end of October 2023, Atlassian warned of a critical security flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-22518 (CVSS score 9.1), that affects all versions of Confluence Data Center and Server.

The vulnerability is an improper authorization issue that can lead to significant data loss if exploited by an unauthenticated attacker.

Cado Security Labs recently became aware that Cerber ransomware is being deployed into Confluence servers via the CVE-2023-22518 exploit. The experts pointed out that there is very little knowledge about the Linux variant of the ransomware family.

Cerber has been active since at least 2016, most recently it was involved in attacks against Confluence servers.

The malware includes three heavily obfuscated C++ payloads compiled as 64-bit Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) files and packed with UPX. UPX is a widely-used packer among threat actors, enabling the storage of encoded program code within the binary. At runtime, the code is extracted in memory and executed, a process known as “unpacking,” to evade detection by security software.

Attackers exploited this vulnerability to gain initial access to vulnerable Atlassian instances.

“We have observed instances of the Cerber ransomware being deployed after an attacker leveraged CVE-2023-22518 in order to gain access to vulnerable instances of Confluence. It is a fairly recent improper authorization vulnerability that allows an attacker to reset the Confluence application and create a new administrator account using an unprotected configuration restore endpoint used by the setup wizard.” states Cado Security.

Financially motivated threat actors created an admin account to deploy the Effluence web shell plugin and execute arbitrary commands on the vulnerable server.

The attackers use the web shell to download and run the primary Cerber payload.

“In a default install, the Confluence application is executed as the “confluence” user, a low privilege user. As such, the data the ransomware is able to encrypt is limited to files owned by the confluence user. It will of course succeed in encrypting the datastore for the Confluence application, which can store important information.” continues the report. “If it was running as a higher privilege user, it would be able to encrypt more files, as it will attempt to encrypt all files on the system.”

The payload is written in C++ and is highly obfuscated, and packed with UPX. The researchers pointed out that it serves as a stager for further payloads, the malware uses a C2 server at 45[.]145[.]6[.]112 to download and unpack further payloads. Upon execution, the malicious code can delete itself from the disk.

Upon execution, the malware unpacks itself, and tries to create a file at /var/lock/0init-ld.lo.  

It then connects to the (now defunct) C2 server at 45[.]145[.]6[.]112 and fetches a log checker known internally as agttydck.

Upon executing the “agttydck.bat” the encryptor payload “agttydcb.bat” is downloaded and executed by the primary payload.

The agttydck malware, written in C++ and packed with UPX, performs several malicious actions: it logs activity in “/tmp/log.0” at startup and “/tmp/log.1” at completion, searches the root directory for encryptable directories, drops a ransom note in each directory, and encrypts all files, appending a “.L0CK3D” extension.

“Cerber is a relatively sophisticated, albeit aging, ransomware payload. While the use of the Confluence vulnerability allows it to compromise a large amount of likely high value systems, often the data it is able to encrypt will be limited to just the confluence data and in well configured systems this will be backed up. This greatly limits the efficacy of the ransomware in extracting money from victims, as there is much less incentive to pay up.” concludes the report that also includes Indicators of compromise (IoCs).

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Cerber ransomware)

Ivanti addressed two critical vulnerabilities in its Avalanche mobile device management (MDM) solution, that can lead to remote command execution.

Ivanti addressed multiple flaws in its Avalanche mobile device management (MDM) solution, including two critical flaws, tracked as CVE-2024-24996 and CVE-2024-29204, that can lead to remote command execution.

The MDM software allows administrators to configure, deploy, update, and maintain up to 100,000 mobile IT assets all in one system.

Below is the description for the two vulnerabilities:

• CVE-2024-24996 (CVSS score 9.8) – A Heap overflow vulnerability in WLInfoRailService component of Ivanti Avalanche before 6.4.3 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands. 
• CVE-2024-29204 (CVSS score 9.8) – A Heap Overflow vulnerability in WLAvalancheService component of Ivanti Avalanche before 6.4.3 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands

A remote attacker can exploit both issues to execute code without user interaction.

Ivanti also addressed tens of medium and high-severity vulnerabilities that could be exploited to trigger denial-of-service conditions, execute arbitrary commands, carry out remote code execution attacks and read sensitive information from memory.

The software company is not aware of attacks in the wild exploiting one of these vulnerabilities at the time of disclosure. 

The company addressed the vulnerability with the release of Avalanche 6.4.3.

“To address the security vulnerabilities listed below, it is highly recommended to download the Avalanche installer and update to the latest Avalanche 6.4.3. The installation will apply a fix for each CVE listed in the table below. These vulnerabilities affect any older versions of Avalanche. You can download the latest Avalanche 6.4.3 release here.” reads the advisory.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Avalanche mobile device management)

Researchers released an exploit code for the actively exploited vulnerability CVE-2024-3400 in Palo Alto Networks’ PAN-OS.

Researchers at watchTowr Labs have released a technical analysis of the vulnerability CVE-2024-3400 in Palo Alto Networks’ PAN-OS and a proof-of-concept exploit that can be used to execute shell commands on vulnerable firewalls.

CVE-2024-3400 (CVSS score of 10.0) is a critical command injection vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS software. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the flaw to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on affected firewalls. This flaw impacts PAN-OS 10.2, PAN-OS 11.0, and PAN-OS 11.1 firewalls configured with GlobalProtect gateway or GlobalProtect portal (or both) and device telemetry enabled.

Palo Alto Networks and Unit 42 are investigating the activity related to CVE-2024-3400 PAN-OS flaw and discovered that threat actors have been exploiting it since March 26, 2024.

The researchers are tracking this cluster of activity, conducted by an unknown threat actor, under the name Operation MidnightEclipse.

“Palo Alto Networks is aware of malicious exploitation of this issue. We are tracking the initial exploitation of this vulnerability under the name Operation MidnightEclipse, as we assess with high confidence that known exploitation we’ve analyzed thus far is limited to a single threat actor.” reads the report. “We also assess that additional threat actors may attempt exploitation in the future.”

Upon exploiting the flaw, the threat actor was observed creating a cronjob that would run every minute to access commands hosted on an external server that would execute via bash.

The researchers were unable to access the commands executed by the attackers, however, they believe threat actors attempted to deploy a second Python-based backdoor on the vulnerable devices.

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Volexity referred this second Python backdor as UPSTYLE.

The threat actor, tracked by Volexity as UTA0218, remotely exploited the firewall device to establish a reverse shell and install additional tools. Their primary objective was to extract configuration data from the devices and then use it as a foothold to expand laterally within the targeted organizations.

Now watchTowr Labs released another detection artifact generator tool in the form of an HTTP request

“As we can see, we inject our command injection payload into the SESSID cookie value – which, when a Palo Alto GlobalProtect appliance has telemetry enabled – is then concatenated into a string and ultimately executed as a shell command.” reads the analysis published by watchTowr Labs.

“Something-something-sophistication-levels-only-achievable-by-a-nation-state-something-something.”

Justin Elze, CTO at TrustedSec, also published the exploit used in attacks in the wild.

Since it's out there now this is what I caught in wild CVE-2024-3400

GET /global-protect/login.esp HTTP/1.1 Host: X User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/90.0.4430.93 Safari/537.36 Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br…

— Justin Elze (@HackingLZ) April 16, 2024

This week, US CISA added the vulnerability CVE-2024-3400 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, ordering U.S. federal agencies to address it by April 19th.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, PAN-OS)

Cisco Talos warns of large-scale brute-force attacks against a variety of targets, including VPN services, web application authentication interfaces and SSH services.  

Cisco Talos researchers warn of large-scale credential brute-force attacks targeting multiple targets, including Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, web application authentication interfaces and SSH services since at least March 18, 2024.  

Below is a list of known affected services: 

• Cisco Secure Firewall VPN 
• Checkpoint VPN  
• Fortinet VPN  
• SonicWall VPN  
• RD Web Services 
• Miktrotik 
• Draytek 
• Ubiquiti 

Successful brute-force attacks can result in unauthorized network access, account lockouts, or denial-of-service (DoS) conditions.

These attacks originate from TOR exit nodes and anonymizing tunnels and proxies, such as:  

• VPN Gate  
• IPIDEA Proxy  
• BigMama Proxy  
• Space Proxies  
• Nexus Proxy  
• Proxy Rack 

“The brute-forcing attempts use generic usernames and valid usernames for specific organizations. The targeting of these attacks appears to be indiscriminate and not directed at a particular region or industry.” reads the advisory published by Cisco Talos.

The malicious activity lacks a specific focus on particular industries or regions, suggesting a broader strategy of random, opportunistic attacks.

The advisory published by Talos includes a list of indicators of compromise (IoCs) for this campaign.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, brute-force)

The PuTTY Secure Shell (SSH) and Telnet client are impacted by a critical vulnerability that could be exploited to recover private keys.

PuTTY tools from 0.68 to 0.80 inclusive are affected by a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-31497, that resides in the code that generates signatures from ECDSA private keys which use the NIST P521 curve.

An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to recover NIST P-521 private keys.

“The effect of the vulnerability is to compromise the private key. An attacker in possession of a few dozen signed messages and the public key has enough information to recover the private key, and then forge signatures as if they were from you, allowing them to (for instance) log in to any servers you use that key for.” reads the advisory. “To obtain these signatures, an attacker need only briefly compromise any server you use the key to authenticate to, or momentarily gain access to a copy of Pageant holding the key. (However, these signatures are not exposed to passive eavesdroppers of SSH connections.)”

The vulnerability was discovered by researchers Fabian Bäumer and Marcus Brinkmann from the Ruhr University Bochum. Bäumer explained that the vulnerability stems from the generation of biased ECDSA cryptographic nonces, which could allow full secret key recovery.

“The PuTTY client and all related components generate heavily biased ECDSA nonces in the case of NIST P-521. To be more precise, the first 9 bits of each ECDSA nonce are zero. This allows for full secret key recovery in roughly 60 signatures by using state-of-the-art techniques. These signatures can either be harvested by a malicious server (man-in-the-middle attacks are not possible given that clients do not transmit their signature in the clear) or from any other source, e.g. signed git commits through forwarded agents.” Baumer explained. “The nonce generation for other curves is slightly biased as well. However, the bias is negligible and far from enough to perform lattice-based key recovery attacks (not considering cryptanalytical advancements).”

The following products include an affected PuTTY version and are therefore are also impacted by the flaw:

• FileZilla (3.24.1 – 3.66.5)
• WinSCP (5.9.5 – 6.3.2)
• TortoiseGit (2.4.0.2 – 2.15.0)
• TortoiseSVN (1.10.0 – 1.14.6)

The flaw has been fixed in PuTTY 0.81, FileZilla 3.67.0, WinSCP 6.3.3, and TortoiseGit 2.15.0.1. TortoiseSVN users are recommended to configure TortoiseSVN to use Plink from the latest PuTTY 0.81 release when accessing a SVN repository via SSH until a patch becomes available.

Any product or component using ECDSA NIST-P521 keys impacted by the flaw CVE-2024-31497 should be deemed compromised. These keys should be revoked by removing them from authorized_keys, GitHub repositories, and any other relevant platforms.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, PuTTY Secure Shell (SSH))

Researchers warn of a renewed cyber espionage campaign targeting users in South Asia with the Apple iOS spyware LightSpy

Blackberry researchers discovered a renewed cyber espionage campaign targeting South Asia with an Apple iOS spyware called LightSpy.

The sophisticated mobile spyware has resurfaced after several months of inactivity, the new version of LightSpy, dubbed “F_Warehouse”, supports a modular framework with extensive spying capabilities.

LightSpy can steal files from multiple popular applications like Telegram, QQ, and WeChat, as well as personal documents and media stored on the device. It can also record audio and harvest a wide array of data, including browser history, WiFi connection lists, installed application details, and even images captured by the device’s camera. The malware also grants attackers access to the device’s system, enabling them to retrieve user KeyChain data, device lists, and execute shell commands, potentially gaining full control over the device.

The evidence gathered by the experts, including code comments and error messages, suggests that the creators of LightSpy are native Chinese speakers, prompting concerns regarding potential state-sponsored activity.

LightSpy implements certificate pinning to prevent detection of C2 communication, if the victim is on a network where traffic is being inspected, no connection to the C2 server will be established.

Based on previous campaigns, the attack chain likely commences by visiting compromised news websites carrying stories related to Hong Kong. A first-stage implant is delivered to the visitors, it gathers device information and downloads further stages, including the core LightSpy implant and various plugins for specific spying functions.

“The Loader initiates the process by loading both the encrypted and subsequently decrypted LightSpy kernel. The core of LightSpy functions as a complex espionage framework, designed to accommodate extensions via a plugin system.” reads the report published by BlackBerry. “The Loader is responsible for loading these plugins, each of which extends the functionality of the main LightSpy implant. Each plugin undergoes a process of secure retrieval from the threat actor’s server in an encrypted format, followed by decryption, before being executed within the system environment.”

In March 2020, security experts at Trend Micro observed a campaign aimed at infecting the iPhones of users in Hong Kong with an iOS version of the LightSpy backdoor.

Attackers used malicious links spread through posts on forums popular in Hong Kong, which led users to real news sites that were compromised by injecting a hidden iframe that would load and run malware.

There is evidence to suggest that the campaign may have targeted India based on VirusTotal submissions from within its borders.

First documented in 2020 by Trend Micro and Kaspersky, LightSpy refers to an advanced iOS backdoor that’s distributed via watering hole attacks through compromised news sites.

The latest LightSpy version uses the F_Warehouse framework that supports the following capabilities:

• Exfiltrate files: Systematically search and steal files from the compromised mobile device.
• Record audio: Covertly capture audio through the device’s microphone.
• Perform network reconnaissance: Collect information about WiFi networks the device has connected to.
• Track user activity: Harvest browsing history data to monitor online behavior.
• Application inventory: Gather details about installed applications on the device.
• Capture images: Secretly take pictures using the device’s camera.
• Access credentials: Retrieve sensitive data stored within the user’s KeyChain.
• Device enumeration: Identify and list devices connected to the compromised system.

The researchers noticed that the malware communicates with a server located at hxxps://103.27[.]109[.]217:52202, which also hosts an administrator panel accessible on port 3458.

The panel shows a message in Chinese language saying that the username or password is incorrect when the users enter the wrong credentials.

This report also includes a list of IoCs for this threat.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, European railways)

Amidst rising tensions with China in the SCS, Resecurity observed a spike in malicious cyber activity targeting the Philippines in Q1 2024.

Amidst rising tensions with China in the South China Sea, Resecurity has observed a significant spike in malicious cyber activity targeting the Philippines in Q1 2024, increasing nearly 325% compared to the same period last year. The number of cyberattacks involving hacktivist groups and foreign misinformation campaigns has nearly tripled. In Q2 2024, this growth trajectory continues, with Resecurity observing multiple cyberattacks staged by previously unknown threat actors. These attacks are characterized by the intersection of ideological “hacktivist” motivations and nation-state-sponsored propaganda.

One prolific example of this dynamic is the China-linked Mustang Panda group, which Resecurity observed using cyberspace to stage sophisticated information warfare campaigns. There is a thin line between cybercriminal activity (supported by the state) and nation-state actors engaging in malicious cyber activity. Leveraging hacktivist-related monikers allows threat actors to avoid attribution while creating the perception of homegrown social conflict online. This tactic is often combined with false-flag attacks originating under publicly known threat-actor profiles to keep a distance from the real intellectual authors of these malign campaigns.

According to experts, the underground scene of actors is represented by the following threat groups accelerating their activity – Philippine Exodus Security (PHEDS), Cyber Operation Alliance (COA), Robin Cyber Hood (RCH), and DeathNote Hackers (Philippines), as well as independent actors and mercenaries recruited to conduct targeted attacks. Notably, some of these groups were also spotted collaborating with Arab Anonymous and Sylnet Gang-SG.

Resecurity interprets this activity as pre-staging for broader malicious, foreign cyber-threat actor activity in the region, including cyber espionage and targeted attacks against government agencies and critical infrastructure. Multiple government resources such as the Department of Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Plant Industry, Philippine National Police, and Bureau of Customs have been targeted.

The full report is available here.

https://www.resecurity.com/blog/article/misinformation-and-hacktivist-campaigns-target-the-philippines-amidst-rising-tensions-with-china

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – misinformation, The Philippines)

Czech transport minister warned that Russia conducted ‘thousands’ of attempts to sabotage railways, attempting to interfere with train networks and signals.

Early this month, the Czech transport minister Martin Kupka warned that Russia has conducted ‘thousands’ of attempts to sabotage European railways.

The Czech Republic’s transport minister told the Financial Times that the attacks aim at destabilizing the EU and sabotaging critical infrastructure.

Kupka confirmed that Russia-linked threat actors conducted “thousands of attempts to weaken our systems” since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The state-sponsored hackers also targeted signaling systems and networks of the Czech national railway operator České dráhy, Kupka said.

The Czech cyber defense was able to detect and neutralize these attacks; however, the minister highlighted that sabotaging railways could cause serious accidents.

“It’s definitely a difficult point . . .[but] I’m really very satisfied because we are able to defend all systems [from] a successful attack,” Kupka told FT.

The Czech cyber security agency, NUKIB, warns of a surge in cyber attacks, particularly targeting the energy and transportation sectors. The attacks escalated since the approval of a 2022 law allowing measures against foreign entities suspected of human rights violations or cyber crimes.

The attacks were also reported by the European cybersecurity agency ENISA, according to the “ENISA THREAT LANDSCAPE: TRANSPORT SECTOR” published in March 2023

“The railway sector also experiences ransomware and data-related threats primarily targeting IT systems like passenger services, ticketing systems, and mobile applications, causing service disruptions. Hacktivist groups have been conducting DDoS attacks against railway companies with an increasing rate, primarily due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” states the report.

The Czech government is planning to build high-speed railways connecting Berlin, Prague and Vienna, it also announced that it prefers European operators to bid on the tenders.

In August 2023, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and national police launched an investigation into a hacking attack on the state’s railway network. According to the Polish Press Agency, the attack disrupted the traffic.

Stanisław Zaryn, deputy coordinator of special services, told the news agency that Polish authorities were investigating an unauthorized usage of the system used to control rail traffic.

“For the moment, we are ruling nothing out,” Stanislaw Zaryn told PAP. “We know that for some months there have been attempts to destabilise the Polish state,” he added. “Such attempts have been undertaken by the Russian Federation in conjunction with Belarus.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s railway system represented a crucial transit infrastructure for Western countries’ support of Ukraine.

Zaryn explained that the attacks are part of a broader activity conducted by Russia to destabilize Poland.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, European railways)

The Dark Angels (Dunghill) ransomware group claims the hack of the chipmaker Nexperia and the theft of 1 TB of data from the company.

The Dark Angels (Dunghill) ransomware group claims responsibility for hacking chipmaker Nexperia and stealing 1 TB of the company’s data.

Nexperia is a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is a subsidiary of the partially state-owned Chinese company Wingtech Technology. It has front-end factories in Hamburg, Germany, and Greater Manchester, England. The company’s product range includes bipolar transistors, diodes, ESD protection, TVS diodes, MOSFETs, and logic devices.

The chipmaker has 14,000 employees as of 2024.

The Dark Angels ransomware group added Nexperia to the list of victims on its Tor leak site. According to the announcement, the stolen data includes:

- 285 Gb of quality control data
- 24 Gb - 896 client folders, many famous brands like SpaceX, IBM, Apple, Huawei, etc.
- 139 Gb project data, very detailed and highly confidential: NDA, internal documents, trade secrets, design, specifications, manufacturing
- 49 Gb industrial production data and instructions
- Assessment of the product's competitiveness in comparison with competitors
- 45 Gb engineers' experience and studies
- 20 Gb product management
- 201 Gb semiconductor manufacturing technologies
- 70 Gb semiconductor commercial marketing data
- 26 Gb pricing, analysis, price books
- 20 Gb HR department, employee data, personal data, passports, contracts, diplomas, salaries, insurance.
- 18 Gb .dwg - 38295 pcs - drawings and schematics of chips, microchips, transistors, etc. All data is confidential, contains trade secrets.
- 30 Gb user data
- production line settings
- repository with equipment configures
- 26 Gb machine operation logs
- 1.2 Gb AWACS software
- 13 Gb .esm files
- 1.9 Gb .job files
- 3 Gb .svn-base
- 101 Gb - .pst files
- 1.5 Gb - NDA

The group published a set of files as proof of the security breach and threatens leak all the stolen data if the victim will not pay the ransom. 

The chipmaker confirmed it became aware of the unauthorized access to certain Nexperia IT servers in March 2024.

In response to the incident, the company disconnected the affected systems from the internet to prevent the threat from spreading. The Nexperia launched an investigation into the security breach with the help of third-party cybersecurity experts.

“we have reported the incident to the competent Authorities, including the ‘Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens’ and the police, and are keeping them informed of the progress of our investigation.” reads the press statement published by the company. “Together with our external cybersecurity expert FoxIT, Nexperia continues to investigate the full extent and impact of the matter and we are closely monitoring the developments. In the interest of the ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose further details at this point.”

In September 2023, the Dark Angels ransomware group hacked Johnson Controls and demanded a $51 million ransom.

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Nexperia )

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

Cisco Duo warns that a data breach involving one of its telephony suppliers exposed multifactor authentication (MFA) messages sent by the company via SMS and VOIP to its customers. 

Cisco Duo warns of a data breach involving one of its telephony suppliers, compromising multifactor authentication (MFA) messages sent to customers via SMS and VOIP.

The security breach occurred on April 1, 2024, the threat actors used a Provider employee’s credentials that illicitly obtained through a phishing attack. Then they used the access to download a set of MFA SMS message logs belonging to customers’ Duo accounts.

“More specifically, the threat actor downloaded message logs for SMS messages that were sent to certain users under your Duo account between March 1, 2024 and March 31, 2024. The message logs did not contain any message content but did contain the phone number, phone carrier, country, and state to which each message was sent, as well as other metadata (e.g., date and time of the message, type of message, etc.).” reads the data breach notification send to the impacted individuals. “The Provider confirmed that the threat actor did not download or otherwise access the content of any messages or use their access to the Provider’s internal systems to send any messages to any of the numbers contained in the message logs.”

Threat actors had access to phone numbers, phone carriers, countries, and states to which each message was sent. Attackers also obtained other metadata, including the date and time of the message, type of message, etc.. 

Once discovered the incident, the Provider immediately launched an investigation and implemented mitigation measures. The Provider invalidated the employee’s credentials and analyzed the logs. The

“Provider also started implementing measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future and additional technical measures to further mitigate the risk associated with social engineering attacks. The Provider confirmed that they will also require employees to undergo additional social engineering awareness training.” continues the notification.

Affected users whose phone numbers were in the logs are recommended to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspected activities.

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Cisco Duo)

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini