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Date: 4/11/2022

CVE-2022-0778 Impact of the OpenSSL Infinite Loop Vulnerability CVE-2022-0778

Overview

The Palo Alto Networks Product Security Assurance team is evaluating the OpenSSL infinite loop vulnerability (CVE-2022-0778) as it relates to their products.

Potential Impact

This vulnerability causes the OpenSSL library to enter an infinite loop when parsing an invalid certificate and can result in a Denial-of-Service (DoS) to the application. An attacker does not need a verified certificate to exploit this vulnerability because parsing a bad certificate triggers the infinite loop before the verification process is completed.

The Palo Alto Prisma Cloud and Cortex XSOAR products are not impacted by this vulnerability. However, PAN-OS, GlobalProtect app, and Cortex XDR agent software contain a vulnerable version of the OpenSSL library and product availability is impacted by this vulnerability.

Recommended Actions

This issue is fixed by application of PAN-OS 9.1.13-h3, PAN-OS 10.1.5-h1, and all later PAN-OS versions.

We intend to fix this issue in the following releases: PAN-OS 8.1.23, PAN-OS 9.0.16-hf, PAN-OS 10.0.10, and PAN-OS 10.2.1. These updates are expected to be available during the week of April 18, 2022.

Customers with a Palo Alto Threat Prevention subscription can block known attacks for this vulnerability by enabling Threat IDs 92409 and 92411. This mitigation reduces the risk of exploitation from known exploits.

Customers will need to upgrade their products to a fixed version to completely remove the risk of this issue.

Sources
Palo Alto Networks: https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2022-0778
SANS NewsBites Vol. 24 Num. 28

Parrot TDS takes over web servers and threatens millions – Avast Threat Labs

Overview

Parrot TDS is a new Traffic Direction System that is using tens of thousands of compromised websites. The TDS provides bad actors access to carry out malicious activity via the infected sites.

Potential Impact

Parrot TDS acts as a gateway for further malicious campaigns to reach potential victims. JavaScript is used to display fake notices for users to update their browser, offering an update file for download. The file observed being delivered to victims is a remote access tool.

Parrot TDS is widespread and has many potential victims. The compromised websites we found appear to have nothing in common apart from servers hosting poorly secured CMS sites, like WordPress sites. From March 1, 2022 to March 29, 2022, Avast protected more than 600,000 unique users from around the globe from visiting these infected sites. 

General Recommended Actions

Avast Threat Labs has several recommendations for developers to avoid their servers from being compromised.

  • Scan all files on the web server with Avast Antivirus or your chosen Anti-Virus Engine
  • Replace all JavaScript and PHP files on the web server with original ones.
  • Use the latest CMS version.
  • Use the latest versions of installed plugins.
  • Check for automatically running tasks on the web server (for example, cron jobs).
  • Check and set up secure credentials. Make sure to always use unique credentials for every service.
  • Check the administrator accounts on the server. Make sure each of them belongs to you and have strong passwords.
  • When applicable, set up 2FA for all the web server admin accounts.
  • Use some of the available security plugins (WordPress, Joomla).

Sources
Avast: https://decoded.avast.io/janrubin/parrot-tds-takes-over-web-servers-and-threatens-millions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=parrot-tds-takes-over-web-servers-and-threatens-millions

Log4Shell exploitation: Which applications may be targeted next?

Overview

Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228) continues to demand attention and action from enterprise defenders as diverse vulnerable applications are being targeted in attacks in the wild.

Potential Impact

Log4Shell is widespread because Apache Log4j – the logging library that it affects – is widely used. While its exploitability depends on the Java version, the Log4j version (only Log4j v2 is vulnerable) and how it’s used, the vulnerability is easily triggered with the right exploit. 

Since the revelation of its existence, many threat actors have been targeting it to compromise VMware Horizon servers, Ubiquity Unifi applications, MobileIron mobile device management systems, IoT devices, and other products.

Other attackable applications include Apache Tomcat, Atlassian Jira, JAMF, Jenkins, Avaya IP Office, Atlassian Confluence and IBM WebSphere Data Power, among others. 

General Recommended Actions

Log4j is here to stay so stay vigilant and follow these tenets:

  • Log4j buried deep into layers and layers of shared third-party code, leading us to the conclusion that we’ll see instances of the Log4j vulnerability being exploited in services used by organizations that use a lot of open source. If you are a defender looking to get ahead of the next Log4j, here are some actionable steps which will harden your attack surface and reduce attackability overnight. 
  • Treat assets with a lot of access as most attackable. You don’t know where an attacker might look first, so start at what you most want to protect and work back from there. This means adding logging and monitoring around your crown jewels as well as assets with a lot of access such as VPNs and remote access tools. 
  • Additionally, install your WAF with rules that automatically update so your SOC is able to concentrate on fewer alerts. 
  • In the event of a truly consequential exposure, such as Log4j, the easiest and most effective way to mitigate risk is to turn off outbound communications from your network. It may make employees struggle to download a couple PDFs, but in the meantime it will keep any attackers in your system from exfiltrating any sensitive information. 
  • Finally, examine attack surface. You can do this quickly and easily by adding an attack surface management solution to your arsenal of cyber tools. By automatically and continuously auditing and prioritizing the targets on your attack surface, you can manage and mitigate exposures easily in crunch time.

Sources
Randoori: https://www.randori.com/blog/log4j-top-targets-report/
HelpNet: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/05/log4shell-applications-targeted/

‘Spring4Shell’ VMware Vulnerability

Overview

VMware has issued security patches for critical remote code execution vulnerability referred to as ‘Spring4Shell’.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-22965, exploits a weakness in the Spring Core Java framework that VMware uses in several of its cloud computing and virtualization products. These products include VMware Tanzu Application Service, Tanzu Operations Manager, and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (TKGI).

Potential Impact

Spring4Shell has a severity score of 9.8 out of 10 due to its ability to execute arbitratry commands remotely, without authentication, and with privileged access. Due to this it is imperative that affected organizations patch their VMware product(s) immediately.

Recommended Actions

VMware has issued security patches for all effected versions, which can be found here: VMSA-2022-0010 (vmware.com).

Sources
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vmware-patches-spring4shell-rce-flaw-in-multiple-products/?&web_view=true
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2022-0010.html

META Malspam targeting crypto wallets/passwords

Overview

The new META malware has increasing use in the cybercriminal community, as criminals can purchase the information-stealing tool at $125 per month or $1000 for lifetime use. Vulnerable devices likely became vulnerable due to a phishing campaign where users downloaded a malicious excel spreadsheet, to where “enable content” was selected from a message appearing to be DocuSign.

Potential Impact

The META malware is profitable for criminals, as it steals passwords from cryptocurrency wallets and passwords from web browsers including Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. After the executable is placed on the machine resulting from the “Enable Content” message, traffic is generated and continues to do so the next time the device turns on. Note that META will likely not be caught by Windows Defender, as a PowerShell script is run to exclude files from the scans to avoid detection.  

Recommended Actions

As always, it is imperative that users within your organization do not click on any malicious links or files and are extremely careful when opening emails from unknown senders. In addition, it is crucial to continue to monitor running processes and look out for unknown activities.

Sources
New Meta information stealer distributed in malspam campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)

IcedID Phishing Attacks Aimed at Exchange Servers

Overview

The actors behind the IcedID banking trojan are launching phishing campaigns that use previous compromised Microsoft Exchange servers or accounts to send emails that appears to originate from legitimate sources. Actors are hijacking existing email threads to make these emails appear more legitimate.

Potential Impact

Actors are using this campaign to spread modular banking trojan malware, which could lead to stolen banking credentials and sometimes more impactful malware such as ransomware. Organizations in energy, healthcare, law and pharmaceutical sectors have been targeted.

Recommended Actions

Public-facing Microsoft Exchange servers should be kept up to date as attackers are leveraging ProxyShell vulnerabilities to execute these phishing campaigns. Additionally, restricting access to Outlook Web App (“OWA”) and ensuring multifactor authentication is enabled may reduce risk. 

Sources
https://threatpost.com/exchange-servers-speared-in-icedid-phishing-campaign/179137/

For strategic clients, your vCISO will add this to your next Office Hours for further discussion. However, if you have an immediate need, concern, or question, please reach out to them directly.

For non-strategic clients, please reach out to your Advisor for further discussion.

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