Date: 4/11/2022
The Palo Alto Networks Product Security Assurance team is evaluating the OpenSSL infinite loop vulnerability (CVE-2022-0778) as it relates to their products.
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.
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 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.
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.
Avast Threat Labs has several recommendations for developers to avoid their servers from being compromised.
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.
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.
Log4j is here to stay so stay vigilant and follow these tenets:
Sources
Randoori: https://www.randori.com/blog/log4j-top-targets-report/
HelpNet: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/05/log4shell-applications-targeted/
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).
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.
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
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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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Ho Chin is Chief Financial Officer at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Ho leads Finance, HR, IT and Professional Development. As part of the executive leadership team, Ho works to establish the company’s overall strategy and ensure proper execution of the supporting initiatives pertaining to the above areas of responsibility.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Ho led finance and administrative functions at multiple private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies across multiple industries. Ho holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University in Centre County, Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dan Kalil is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Chairman at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Dan provides vision, leadership and strategies that drive GreyCastle Security’s position as an industry leader. With an emphasis on customer success, Dan’s profitable growth model leverages a customer-centric business approach that balances employee wellbeing and social responsibility.
Prior to becoming CEO, Dan served as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer, during which he supported multiple acquisitions and helped the organization achieve substantial sales growth. In addition to serving as CEO at GreyCastle Security, Dan continues to hold the position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Assured information Security (AIS) in Rome, New York, a company he co-founded in 2001.
Over the course of the last 22 years, Dan has been committed to advancing the state of cybersecurity and has played an instrumental role in the identification and development of critical, next-generation cyber capabilities. He has held positions in almost every facet of cybersecurity, beginning as a computer forensic examiner and progressing through the management and executive leadership ranks. In addition to co-founding AIS, Dan has facilitated multiple cybersecurity startups, raised investment capital and has served in various lead and support roles toward the acquisition of five companies in the last eight years.
Dan has a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and a master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Utica College in Utica, New York.
Michael Stamas is an entrepreneur, board member, Vice President and a founder of GreyCastle Security. With more than two decades of experience in the technology sector, Mike pairs his management and business development skills with a deep understanding of cybersecurity. Mike brings a unique brand of risk-based advising to GreyCastle clients and prospects.
Mike holds certifications in numerous security and technology related areas, including the Department of Homeland Security and other security technologies like Symantec, Cisco and Microsoft.
Mike plays an active role in his community and serves as a board member and Vice President of InfraGard Albany as well as an advisory board position with the Capital Region YMCA.
Mike has been recognized for his numerous achievements through various honors including the Albany Business Review’s prestigious 40 Under 40 award.
Dan Maynard serves as GreyCastle Security’s Chief Operating Officer, where he currently leads Sales, Marketing and Legal.
Dan has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry, during which time he has held various leadership positions for organizations such as Rochester Tel/RCI, Citizens Communications (Frontier), PAETEC Communications, IntegraOptics, tw telecom/Level3 and Centurylink.
In addition to various voice and data technology platforms, he possesses a strong background in leadership development, sales and marketing leadership, transformational leadership and strategic planning. Dan has a thirst for knowledge and as a committed lifelong learner, he encourages and supports professional development initiatives for his teams and continues his involvement with Vistage International.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
When not at work, Dan enjoys traveling, golfing, attending Utica Comets hockey games and relaxing in the Adirondacks on beautiful Canada Lake with family and friends.
Dan Didier is the Vice President of Solutions and board member at GreyCastle Security.
Dan has been a cybersecurity practitioner for more than 20 years and uses his knowledge and experience to develop cybersecurity solutions that ensure readiness and preparedness.
Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.
Our Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs) have responded to hundreds of breaches, intrusions, malware infections, thefts, employee investigations, fraud cases and other incidents. Our highly-certified experts have extensive experience in command, coordination and correction of incidents in nearly every industry throughout North America, from local businesses to Fortune 500 international conglomerates.
800-403-8350Francesca LoPorto-Brandow is Director of Culture at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Francesca leads all social responsibility efforts and partnerships and develops effective strategies that promote organizational-wide behaviors and attitudes consistent with a culture of safety, inclusion, teamwork, motivation and high-performance.
Prior to this role, Francesca was Director of People & Culture at GreyCastle and with her leadership, the company’s culture has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Nationally recognized Best Workplace, Albany Business Review Best Places to Work and Albany Times Union Top Workplaces.
Before joining GreyCastle Security, Francesca worked as an OD consultant and focused on strategic culture change at The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc. for more than six years. There, she facilitated client education sessions, coached leaders and teams, developed and executed consulting interventions and served as strategy project leader on various client engagements. Her work has taken her into Fortune 100 companies and across borders including Panama, Singapore and beyond.
Francesca is a Lean Six Sigma–certified Green Belt, a proud YWCA-GCR board member and in 2013, she coordinated and emceed the inaugural TEDx Troy—a livestream of TEDCity 2.0. Since 2012, she has coordinated and emceed the Troy 100 Forum, a biannual forum for government, religious and community leaders to discuss issues vital to the future of Troy, New York.
Bilingual in English and Italian, Francesca holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Technology from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology. She was awarded Cybersecurity Recruiter of the year North America in 2017 by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
Jamie Aiello is Senior Vice President of Services and Product Management at GreyCastle Security. In this position, Jamie is responsible for leading a high performing and well-balanced team that is ultimately responsible for the identification, selection, execution and successful performance of our company’s diverse portfolio of cybersecurity offerings.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Jamie has held leadership positions with Annese and Associates, ConvergeOne and BlueSky IT Partners with a focus on delivering cost effective information technology solutions for companies across multiple verticals.
Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, a master’s degree in Business Administration from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and a master’s degree in Computer Information Systems from University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.
