Vulnerability | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

A now-patched security flaw in the Microsoft Defender SmartScreen has been exploited as part of a new campaign designed to deliver information stealers such as ACR Stealer, Lumma , and Meduza . Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said it detected the stealer campaign targeting Spain, Thailand, and the U.S. using booby-trapped files that exploit CVE-2024-21412 (CVSS score: 8.1). The high-severity vulnerability allows an attacker to sidestep SmartScreen protection and drop malicious payloads. Microsoft addressed this issue as part of its monthly security updates released in February 2024. "Initially, attackers lure victims into clicking a crafted link to a URL file designed to download an LNK file," security researcher Cara Lin said . "The LNK file then downloads an executable file containing an [HTML Application] script." The HTA file serves as a conduit to decode and decrypt PowerShell code responsible for fetching a decoy PDF file and a shellcode injector that, in tur

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added two security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerabilities are listed below - CVE-2012-4792 (CVSS score: 9.3) - Microsoft Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability CVE-2024-39891 (CVSS score: 5.3) - Twilio Authy Information Disclosure Vulnerability CVE-2012-4792 is a decade-old use-after-free vulnerability in Internet Explorer that could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted site. It's currently not clear if the flaw has been subjected to renewed exploitation attempts, although it was abused as part of watering hole attacks targeting the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and Capstone Turbine Corporation websites back in December 2012. On the other hand, CVE-2024-39891 refers to an information disclosure bug in an unauthenticated endpoint that could be exploited to "accept

Let's face it: AppSec and developers often feel like they're on opposing teams. You're battling endless vulnerabilities while they just want to ship code. Sound familiar? It's a common challenge, but there is a solution. Ever wish they proactively cared about security? The answer lies in a proven, but often overlooked, strategy: Security Champion Programs — a way to turn developers from adversaries into security advocates? Join our upcoming FREE webinar, " Turn Developers into Allies: The Power of Security Champion Programs, " to discover the secrets behind this game-changing approach. In this webinar, you'll learn: Overcoming the Resistance: Proven tactics to bridge the gap between developers and security, fostering a spirit of collaboration and trust. The Power of Effective Communication: Learn how to make security messaging resonate with developers, without the jargon overload. Creating a Culture of Champions: Discover how to build a Securi

Organizations in Taiwan and a U.S. non-governmental organization (NGO) based in China have been targeted by a Beijing-affiliated state-sponsored hacking group called Daggerfly using an upgraded set of malware tools. The campaign is a sign that the group "also engages in internal espionage," Symantec's Threat Hunter Team, part of Broadcom, said in a new report published today. "In the attack on this organization, the attackers exploited a vulnerability in an Apache HTTP server to deliver their MgBot malware." Daggerfly, also known by the names Bronze Highland and Evasive Panda, was previously observed using the MgBot modular malware framework in connection with an intelligence-gathering mission aimed at telecom service providers in Africa. It's known to be operational since 2012. "Daggerfly appears to be capable of responding to exposure by quickly updating its toolset to continue its espionage activities with minimal disruption," the compan

The JavaScript downloader malware known as SocGholish (aka FakeUpdates) is being used to deliver a remote access trojan called AsyncRAT as well as a legitimate open-source project called BOINC. BOINC , short for Berkeley Open Infrastructure Network Computing Client, is an open-source "volunteer computing" platform maintained by the University of California with an aim to carry out "large-scale distributed high-throughput computing" using participating home computers on which the app is installed. "It's similar to a cryptocurrency miner in that way (using computer resources to do work), and it's actually designed to reward users with a specific type of cryptocurrency called Gridcoin, designed for this purpose," Huntress researchers Matt Anderson, Alden Schmidt, and Greg Linares said in a report published last week. These malicious installations are designed to connect to an actor-controlled domain ("rosettahome[.]cn" or "rosettah

SolarWinds has addressed a set of critical security flaws impacting its Access Rights Manager (ARM) software that could be exploited to access sensitive information or execute arbitrary code. Of the 13 vulnerabilities, eight are rated Critical in severity and carry a CVSS score of 9.6 out of 10.0. The remaining five weaknesses have been rated High in severity, with four of them having a CVSS score of 7.6 and one scoring 8.3. The most severe of the flaws are listed below - CVE-2024-23472 - SolarWinds ARM Directory Traversal Arbitrary File Deletion and Information Disclosure Vulnerability CVE-2024-28074 - SolarWinds ARM Internal Deserialization Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2024-23469 - Solarwinds ARM Exposed Dangerous Method Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2024-23475 - Solarwinds ARM Traversal and Information Disclosure Vulnerability CVE-2024-23467 - Solarwinds ARM Traversal Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2024-23466 - Solarwinds ARM Directory

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered security shortcomings in SAP AI Core cloud-based platform for creating and deploying predictive artificial intelligence (AI) workflows that could be exploited to get hold of access tokens and customer data. The five vulnerabilities have been collectively dubbed SAPwned by cloud security firm Wiz. "The vulnerabilities we found could have allowed attackers to access customers' data and contaminate internal artifacts – spreading to related services and other customers' environments," security researcher Hillai Ben-Sasson said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Following responsible disclosure on January 25, 2024, the weaknesses were addressed by SAP as of May 15, 2024. In a nutshell, the flaws make it possible to obtain unauthorized access to customers' private artifacts and credentials to cloud environments like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and SAP HANA Cloud. They could also be used to modify D

Unknown threat actors have been observed leveraging open-source tools as part of a suspected cyber espionage campaign targeting global government and private sector organizations. Recorded Future's Insikt Group is tracking the activity under the temporary moniker TAG-100, noting that the adversary likely compromised organizations in at least ten countries across Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania, including two unnamed Asia-Pacific intergovernmental organizations. Also singled out since February 2024 are diplomatic, government, semiconductor supply-chain, non-profit, and religious entities located in Cambodia, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Indonesia, Netherlands, Taiwan, the U.K., the U.S., and Vietnam. "TAG-100 employs open-source remote access capabilities and exploits various internet-facing devices to gain initial access," the cybersecurity company said . "The group used open-source Go backdoors Pantegana and Spark RAT post-e

Cisco has released patches to address a maximum-severity security flaw impacting Smart Software Manager On-Prem (Cisco SSM On-Prem) that could enable a remote, unauthenticated attacker to change the password of any users, including those belonging to administrative users. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-20419 , carries a CVSS score of 10.0. "This vulnerability is due to improper implementation of the password-change process," the company said in an advisory. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to access the web UI or API with the privileges of the compromised user." The shortcoming affects Cisco SSM On-Prem versions 8-202206 and earlier. It has been fixed in version 8-202212. It's worth noting that version 9 is not susceptible to the flaw. Cisco said there are no workarounds that resolve the issue, and that it's not aware of any malicio

Threat actors are actively exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting Apache HugeGraph-Server that could lead to remote code execution attacks. Tracked as CVE-2024-27348 (CVSS score: 9.8), the vulnerability impacts all versions of the software before 1.3.0. It has been described as a remote command execution flaw in the Gremlin graph traversal language API. "Users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.3.0 with Java11 and enable the Auth system, which fixes the issue," the Apache Software Foundation noted in late April 2024. "Also you could enable the 'Whitelist-IP/port' function to improve the security of RESTful-API execution." Additional technical specifics about the flaw were released by penetration testing company SecureLayer7 in early June, stating it enables an attacker to bypass sandbox restrictions and achieve code execution, giving them complete control over a susceptible server. This week, the Shadowserver Foundat

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group called Void Banshee has been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in the Microsoft MHTML browser engine as a zero-day to deliver an information stealer called Atlantida . Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which observed the activity in mid-May 2024, said the vulnerability – tracked as CVE-2024-38112 – was used as part of a multi-stage attack chain using specially crafted internet shortcut (URL) files. "Variations of the Atlantida campaign have been highly active throughout 2024 and have evolved to use CVE-2024-38112 as part of Void Banshee infection chains," security researchers Peter Girnus and Aliakbar Zahravi said . "The ability of APT groups like Void Banshee to exploit disabled services such as [Internet Explorer] poses a significant threat to organizations worldwide." The findings dovetail with prior disclosures from Check Point, which told The Hacker News of a campaign leveraging the same shortc

A threat actor that was previously observed using an open-source network mapping tool has greatly expanded their operations to infect over 1,500 victims. Sysdig, which is tracking the cluster under the name CRYSTALRAY , said the activities have witnessed a tenfold surge, adding it includes "mass scanning, exploiting multiple vulnerabilities, and placing backdoors using multiple [open-source software] security tools." The primary objective of the attacks is to harvest and sell credentials, deploy cryptocurrency miners, and maintain persistence in victim environments. A majority of the infections are concentrated in the U.S., China, Singapore, Russia, France, Japan, and India, among others. Prominent among the open-source programs used by the threat actor is SSH-Snake , which was first released in January 2024. It has been described as a tool to carry out automatic network traversal using SSH private keys discovered on systems. The abuse of the software by CRYSTALRAY was

Palo Alto Networks has released security updates to address five security flaws impacting its products, including a critical bug that could lead to an authentication bypass. Cataloged as CVE-2024-5910 (CVSS score: 9.3), the vulnerability has been described as a case of missing authentication in its Expedition migration tool that could lead to an admin account takeover. "Missing authentication for a critical function in Palo Alto Networks Expedition can lead to an Expedition admin account takeover for attackers with network access to Expedition," the company said in an advisory. "Configuration secrets, credentials, and other data imported into Expedition is at risk due to this issue." The flaw impacts all versions of Expedition prior to version 1.2.92, which remediates the problem. Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center's (CyRC) Brian Hysell has been credited with discovering and reporting the issue. While there is no evidence that the vulnerability has be

Multiple threat actors have been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in PHP to deliver remote access trojans, cryptocurrency miners, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnets. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-4577 (CVSS score: 9.8), which allows an attacker to remotely execute malicious commands on Windows systems using Chinese and Japanese language locales. It was publicly disclosed in early June 2024. "CVE-2024-4577 is a flaw that allows an attacker to escape the command line and pass arguments to be interpreted directly by PHP," Akamai researchers Kyle Lefton, Allen West, and Sam Tinklenberg said in a Wednesday analysis. "The vulnerability itself lies in how Unicode characters are converted into ASCII." The web infrastructure company said it began observing exploit attempts against its honeypot servers targeting the PHP flaw within 24 hours of it being public knowledge. This included exploits designed to deliver a remote

A now-patched security flaw in Veeam Backup & Replication software is being exploited by a nascent ransomware operation known as EstateRansomware. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which discovered the threat actor in early April 2024, said the modus operandi involved the exploitation of CVE-2023-27532 (CVSS score: 7.5) to carry out the malicious activities. Initial access to the target environment is said to have been facilitated by means of a Fortinet FortiGate firewall SSL VPN appliance using a dormant account. "The threat actor pivoted laterally from the FortiGate Firewall through the SSL VPN service to access the failover server," security researcher Yeo Zi Wei said in an analysis published today. "Before the ransomware attack, there were VPN brute-force attempts noted in April 2024 using a dormant account identified as 'Acc1.' Several days later, a successful VPN login using 'Acc1' was traced back to the remote IP address 149.28.106[.]25

Microsoft has released patches to address a total of 143 security flaws as part of its monthly security updates, two of which have come under active exploitation in the wild. Five out of the 143 flaws are rated Critical, 136 are rated Important, and four are rated Moderate in severity. The fixes are in addition to 33 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in the Chromium-based Edge browser over the past month. The two security shortcomings that have come under exploitation are below - CVE-2024-38080 (CVSS score: 7.8) - Windows Hyper-V Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability CVE-2024-38112 (CVSS score: 7.5) - Windows MSHTML Platform Spoofing Vulnerability "Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to take additional actions prior to exploitation to prepare the target environment," Microsoft said of CVE-2024-38112. "An attacker would have to send the victim a malicious file that the victim would have to execute." Check Point securi

Select versions of the OpenSSH secure networking suite are susceptible to a new vulnerability that can trigger remote code execution (RCE). The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-6409 (CVSS score: 7.0), is distinct from CVE-2024-6387 (aka RegreSSHion) and relates to a case of code execution in the privsep child process due to a race condition in signal handling. It only impacts versions 8.7p1 and 8.8p1 shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. Security researcher Alexander Peslyak, who goes by the alias Solar Designer, has been credited with discovering and reporting the bug, which was found during a review of CVE-2024-6387 after the latter was disclosed by Qualys earlier this month. "The main difference from CVE-2024-6387 is that the race condition and RCE potential are triggered in the privsep child process, which runs with reduced privileges compared to the parent server process," Peslyak said . "So the immediate impact is lower. However, there may be differenc

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a security vulnerability in the RADIUS network authentication protocol called BlastRADIUS that could be exploited by an attacker to stage Mallory-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and bypass integrity checks under certain circumstances. "The RADIUS protocol allows certain Access-Request messages to have no integrity or authentication checks," InkBridge Networks CEO Alan DeKok, who is the creator of the FreeRADIUS Project , said in a statement. "As a result, an attacker can modify these packets without detection. The attacker would be able to force any user to authenticate, and to give any authorization (VLAN, etc.) to that user." RADIUS, short for Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service, is a client/server protocol that provides centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) management for users who connect and use a network service. The security of RADIUS is reliant on a hash that's derived usi