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Hackers breach US Government agencies running end-of-life software

Dec 31, 2023

Malicious actors have hacked two governmental servers running end-of-life software. The US cybersecurity agency CISA warns that cybercriminals are exploiting a vulnerability in discontinued Adobe ColdFusion versions and urges users to upgrade.

The first incident happened as early as June 26th, when threat actors gained access to a public-facing web server running an Adobe ColdFusion version from 2016. The server belonged to an unnamed Federal Civilian Executive Branch agency.

The hackers used an IP address that resolved to a public cloud service provider, which could host a large volume of legitimate traffic.

 

After performing connectivity and software checks, the cybercrooks were observed traversing the filesystem, uploading various artifacts, deleting files, and running web shells. Malicious code was inserted with the intent to extract username, password, and data source uniform resource locators, according to CISA’s advisory.

The second incident took place on June 2nd, when unknown hackers attacked another server of an unnamed governmental body. The server was running the ColdFusion version from 2021.

Malicious actors exploited the same critical vulnerability, CVE-2023-26360, with a base score of 9.8 out of 10. Older ColdFusion versions have an improper access control vulnerability, which allows cybercrooks to run arbitrary code without user interaction.

Using a different IP address, the hackers collected information about administrative user accounts and performed reconnaissance, discovering network configuration, logs, and user information.

The threat actors also dropped at least eight malicious artifacts, including a remote access trojan, and maintained persistence for a while, periodically testing network connectivity. They also tried to exfiltrate registry files multiple times, but these malicious activities were detected and quarantined.

“Had the attempt succeeded, the threat actors may have been able to change policies across compromised servers,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) noted.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alerted the agency’s pre-production environment about the potential Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability exploitation in both incidents.

The CISA encourages network defenders and critical infrastructure organizations to improve their cybersecurity posture and urges software manufacturers to incorporate secure-by-design and -default principles.

 

Those incidents could have been avoided if all software versions affected by the vulnerability had been upgraded. According to the CISA, internet-facing systems should be prioritized, and vulnerability scans should be automated or conducted continuously.

“Both servers were running outdated versions of software, which are vulnerable to various CVEs (Common vulnerabilities and exposures). Additionally, various commands were initiated by the threat actors on the compromised web servers; the exploited vulnerability allowed the threat actors to drop malware using HTTP POST commands to the directory path associated with ColdFusion,” the CISA noted.

Security Lapse by Microsoft Employees Exposes Internal Passwords

26 Apr, 2024
In continuation of Microsoft’s series of data security incidents, employees accidentally exposed internal data to the public. The leak exposed an unprotected Azure storage server containing code, scripts, and configuration files. Microsoft has announced that it has fixed a security breach that exposed internal company credentials and files to the open internet. The breach was first discovered by security researchers from cybersecurity firm SOC Radar. According to their report, an internal error resulted in an Azure storage server without password protection being given public access. The exposed data was primarily related to Microsoft’s Bing search engine, including configuration files, code, and scripts that employees used to access a range of internal systems and databases. Consequently, bad actors could identify and access locations for Microsoft's internal data. So far, it has not been made clear how long the data has been exposed. Anuj Mudaliar Assistant Editor - Tech, SWZD opens a new window opens a new window Anuj Mudaliar is a content development professional with a keen interest in emerging technologies, particularly advances in AI. As a tech editor for Spiceworks, Anuj covers many topics, including cloud, cybersecurity, emerging tech innovation, AI, and hardware. When not at work, he spends his time outdoors - trekking, camping, and stargazing. He is also interested in cooking and experiencing cuisine from around the world.

AT&T experienced data breach that impacted 51 million customers (No one is immune)

26 Apr, 2024
AT&T is notifying 51 million former and current customers, warning them of a data breach that exposed their personal information on a hacking forum. However, the company has still not disclosed how the data was obtained. These notifications are related to the recent leak of a massive amount of AT&T customer data on the Breach hacking forums that was offered for sale for $1 million in 2021. When threat actor ShinyHunters first listed the AT&T data for sale in 2021, the company told BleepingComputer that the collection did not belong to them and that their systems had not been breached. Last month, when another threat actor known as 'MajorNelson' leaked the entire dataset on the hacking forum, AT&T once again told BleepingComputer that the data did not originate from them and their systems were not breached. After BleepingComputer confirmed that the data belonged to AT&T and DirectTV accounts, and TechCrunch reported AT&T passcodes were in the data dump, AT&T finally confirmed that the data belonged to them. While the leak contained information for more than 70 million people, AT&T is now saying that it impacted a total of 51,226,382 customers. "The [exposed] information varied by individual and account, but may have included full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and AT&T passcode," reads the notification. "To the best of our knowledge, personal financial information and call history were not included. Based on our investigation to date, the data appears to be from June 2019 or earlier." BleepingComputer contacted AT&T as to why there is such a large difference in impacted customers and was told that some of the people had multiple accounts in the dataset. "We are sending a communication to each person whose sensitive personal information was included. Some people had more than one account in the dataset, and others did not have sensitive personal information," AT&T told BleepingComputer. The company has still not disclosed how the data was stolen and why it took them almost five years to confirm that it belonged to them and to alert customers. Furthermore, the company told the Maine Attorney General's Office that they first learned of the breach on March 26, 2024, yet BleepingComputer first contacted AT&T about it on March 17th and the information was for sale first in 2021. While it is likely too late, as the data has been privately circulating for years, AT&T is offering one year of identity theft protection and credit monitoring services through Experian, with instructions enclosed in the notices. The enrollment deadline was set to August 30, 2024, but exposed people should move much faster to protect themselves. Recipients are urged to stay vigilant, monitor their accounts and credit reports for suspicious activity, and treat unsolicited communications with elevated caution. For the admitted security lapse and the massive delay in verifying the data breach claims and informing affected customers accordingly, AT&T is facing multiple class-action lawsuits in the U.S. Considering that the data was stolen in 2021, cybercriminals have had ample opportunity to exploit the dataset and launch targeted attacks against exposed AT&T customers. However, the dataset has now been leaked to the broader cybercrime community, exponentially increasing the risk for former and current AT&T customers. Update 4/10/24: Added statement from AT&T about discrepancy in numbers. BILL TOULAS Bill Toulas is a tech writer and infosec news reporter with over a decade of experience working on various online publications, covering open-source, Linux, malware, data breach incidents, and hacks.

Home Depot Data Compromised Through Third-Party SaaS Misconfiguration

26 Apr, 2024
Home improvement retailer Home Depot confirmed with multiple publishers that it suffered a data break due to a third-party SaaS vendor inadvertently exposing a subset of employee data. IntelBroker, the threat actor behind the attack claims it has the information of 10,000 Home Depot employees. A Home Depot software vendor suffered a data breach leading to the compromise of an undisclosed number of employees. IntelBroker, the threat actor behind the attack claims it has the information of 10,000 Home Depot employees. Home improvement retailer Home Depot confirmed with multiple publishers that it suffered a data break due to a third-party software vendor inadvertently exposing a subset of employee data. Reportedly, the breach was caused by a misconfigured software-as-a-service (SaaS) application.
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