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Date: 07/05/2023
A recent critical vulnerability affecting FortiGate firewalls is actively being exploited in the wild. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-27997 and can be exploited pre-authentication on devices with SSL VPN exposed.
Exploitation could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary command via crafted requests. This could lead to credential or device compromise which could then be used to pivot and attack internal systems.
Patches were released by Fortinet in versions 6.0.17, 6.2.15, 6.4.13, 7.0.12, and 7.2.5. It is recommended that patches be applied as soon as possible. Note that multifactor authentication does not prevent exploitation. It is also recommended that vendor security bulletins are reviewed on a regular basis and vulnerability scanning on both external and internal systems is performed periodically.
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A new tool has been published that streamlines the process of sending phishing messages via Teams to users with ability to accept external messages. The tool is called TeamsPhisher and is available on GitHub. Note that this flaw was known by Microsoft but did not meet the requirements for immediate servicing, though it is likely to be addressed in the near future.
Potential Impact
An uptick in social engineering attacks leveraging is expected, especially with the release of a tool that streamlines the process, which will bypass restrictions in place for file sharing with users outside of a tenant. Note that the TeamsPhisher tool requires users to have a Microsoft account with a valid Teams and Sharepoint license, which is common for many major companies.
For mitigation, it is recommended to disable communications with external tenants if not needed. An allow list can also be created to limit the risk of exposure to trusted domains.
Sources
A privilege escalation flaw known as “StackRot” was discovered by researcher Ruihan Li in June 2023, and impacts Linux Kernels 6.1-6.4. The flaw is in the Linux memory management subsystem.
Exploitation of this flaw allows an unprivileged user to compromise the kernel and escalate privileges. Privilege escalation techniques can give attackers control over the compromised system.
Patches were added to Linux kernels 6.1-6.4 on July 1, 2023. Ensure that Linux machines are updated to the latest kernel release.
Sources
A tool named “TeamsPhisher” was released by the US Navy red team, which bypasses Microsoft’s protections against sending of files from external tenants. Files sent by external users with this tool will be treated the same as files sent by internal users.
Attackers can send files using this tool to perform typical phishing activities such as code execution or credential stealing.
Similar to email phishing, user awareness training is paramount. Ensure that users remain vigilant and that they think twice before opening a document that was sent to them in an unusual way.
Sources:
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