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Log4j Vulnerability | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Category — Log4j Vulnerability
Do You Really Trust Your Web Application Supply Chain?

Do You Really Trust Your Web Application Supply Chain?

Sep 20, 2023 Web Application Security
Well, you shouldn't. It may already be hiding vulnerabilities. It's the modular nature of modern web applications that has made them so effective. They can call on dozens of third-party web components, JS frameworks, and open-source tools to deliver all the different functionalities that keep their customers happy, but this chain of dependencies is also what makes them so vulnerable. Many of those components in the web application supply chain are controlled by a third party—the company that created them. This means that no matter how rigorous you were with your own static code analysis, code reviews, penetration testing, and other SSDLC processes, most of your supply chain's security is in the hands of whoever built its third-party components. With their huge potential for weak spots, and their widespread use in the lucrative ecommerce, financial and medical industries, web application supply chains present a juicy target for cyber attackers. They can target any one of the doz...
Amazon's Hotpatch for Log4j Flaw Found Vulnerable to Privilege Escalation Bug

Amazon's Hotpatch for Log4j Flaw Found Vulnerable to Privilege Escalation Bug

Apr 21, 2022
The "hotpatch" released by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in response to the  Log4Shell  vulnerabilities could be leveraged for container escape and privilege escalation, allowing an attacker to seize control of the underlying host. "Aside from containers, unprivileged processes can also exploit the patch to escalate privileges and gain root code execution," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researcher Yuval Avrahami  said  in a report published this week. The issues —  CVE-2021-3100 ,  CVE-2021-3101 ,  CVE-2022-0070 , and  CVE-2022-0071  (CVSS scores: 8.8) — affect the  hotfix solutions  shipped by AWS, and stem from the fact that they are designed to search for Java processes and patch them against the Log4j flaw on the fly but without ensuring that the new Java processes are run within the restrictions imposed on the container. "Any process running a binary named 'java' – inside or outside of a container – is considered a candidate for...
Beyond Compliance: The Advantage of Year-Round Network Pen Testing

Beyond Compliance: The Advantage of Year-Round Network Pen Testing

Nov 18, 2024Penetration Testing / Network Security
IT leaders know the drill—regulators and cyber insurers demand regular network penetration testing to keep the bad guys out. But here's the thing: hackers don't wait around for compliance schedules. Most companies approach network penetration testing on a set schedule, with the most common frequency being twice a year (29%), followed by three to four times per year (23%) and once per year (20%), according to the Kaseya Cybersecurity Survey Report 2024 . Compliance-focused testing can catch vulnerabilities that exist at the exact time of testing, but it's not enough to stay ahead of attackers in a meaningful way. Why More Frequent Testing Makes Sense When companies test more often, they're not just checking a box for compliance—they're actually protecting their networks. The Kaseya survey also points out that the top drivers for network penetration testing are: Cybersecurity Control and Validation (34%) – ensuring the security controls work and vulnerabilities are minimized. Re...
Iranian Hackers Exploit Log4j Vulnerability to Deploy PowerShell Backdoor

Iranian Hackers Exploit Log4j Vulnerability to Deploy PowerShell Backdoor

Jan 13, 2022
An Iranian state-sponsored actor has been observed scanning and attempting to abuse the Log4Shell flaw in publicly-exposed Java applications to deploy a hitherto undocumented PowerShell-based modular backdoor dubbed " CharmPower " for follow-on post-exploitation. "The actor's attack setup was obviously rushed, as they used the basic open-source tool for the exploitation and based their operations on previous infrastructure, which made the attack easier to detect and attribute," researchers from Check Point  said  in a report published this week. The Israeli cybersecurity company linked the attack to a group known as  APT35 , which is also tracked using the codenames Charming Kitten, Phosphorus, and TA453, citing overlaps with toolsets previously identified as infrastructure used by the threat actor. Log4Shell  aka CVE-2021-44228 (CVSS score: 10.0) concerns a critical security vulnerability in the popular Log4j logging library that, if successfully exploite...
cyber security

Creating, Managing and Securing Non-Human Identities

websitePermisoCybersecurity / Identity Security
A new class of identities has emerged alongside traditional human users: non-human identities (NHIs). Permiso Security's new eBook details everything you need to know about managing and securing non-human identities, and strategies to unify identity security without compromising agility.
CISA, FBI and NSA Publish Joint Advisory and Scanner for Log4j Vulnerabilities

CISA, FBI and NSA Publish Joint Advisory and Scanner for Log4j Vulnerabilities

Dec 23, 2021
Cybersecurity agencies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S. on Wednesday released a joint advisory in response to widespread exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities in Apache's Log4j software library by nefarious adversaries. "These vulnerabilities, especially Log4Shell, are severe," the intelligence agencies said in the  new   guidance . "Sophisticated cyber threat actors are actively scanning networks to potentially exploit  Log4Shell ,  CVE-2021-45046 , and  CVE-2021-45105  in vulnerable systems. These vulnerabilities are likely to be exploited over an extended period." An attacker can exploit Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228) by submitting a specially crafted request to a vulnerable system that causes that system to execute arbitrary code. CVE-2021-45046, on the other hand, allows for remote code execution in certain non-default configurations, while CVE-2021-45105 could be leveraged by a remote attacker to cause a denial-of-service...
China suspends deal with Alibaba for not sharing Log4j 0-day first with the government

China suspends deal with Alibaba for not sharing Log4j 0-day first with the government

Dec 22, 2021
China's internet regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has temporarily suspended a partnership with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, for six months on account of the fact that it failed to promptly inform the government about a critical security vulnerability affecting the broadly used Log4j logging library. The development was disclosed by  Reuters  and  South China Morning Post , citing a report from 21st Century Business Herald, a Chinese business-news daily newspaper. "Alibaba Cloud did not immediately report vulnerabilities in the popular, open-source logging framework Apache Log4j2 to China's telecommunications regulator," Reuters said. "In response, MIIT suspended a cooperative partnership with the cloud unit regarding cybersecurity threats and information-sharing platforms." Tracked as  CVE-2021-44228  (CVSS score: 10.0) and codenamed  Log4Shell  or LogJam, t...
New Local Attack Vector Expands the Attack Surface of Log4j Vulnerability

New Local Attack Vector Expands the Attack Surface of Log4j Vulnerability

Dec 18, 2021
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an entirely new attack vector that enables adversaries to exploit the Log4Shell vulnerability on servers locally by using a JavaScript WebSocket connection. "This newly-discovered attack vector means that anyone with a vulnerable Log4j version on their machine or local private network can browse a website and potentially trigger the vulnerability," Matthew Warner, CTO of Blumira,  said . "At this point, there is no proof of active exploitation. This vector significantly expands the attack surface and can impact services even running as localhost which were not exposed to any network." WebSockets  allow for two-way communications between a web browser (or other client application) and a server, unlike HTTP, which is unidirectional where the client sends the request and the server sends the response. While the issue can be resolved by updating all local development and internet-facing environments to Log4j 2.16.0, Apache o...
Apache Issues 3rd Patch to Fix New High-Severity Log4j Vulnerability

Apache Issues 3rd Patch to Fix New High-Severity Log4j Vulnerability

Dec 18, 2021
The issues with Log4j continued to stack up as the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) on Friday rolled out yet another patch — version 2.17.0 — for the widely used logging library that could be exploited by malicious actors to stage a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. Tracked as  CVE-2021-45105  (CVSS score: 7.5), the new vulnerability affects all versions of the tool from 2.0-beta9 to 2.16.0, which the open-source nonprofit shipped earlier this week to remediate a second flaw that could result in remote code execution ( CVE-2021-45046 ), which, in turn, stemmed from an "incomplete" fix for  CVE-2021-44228 , otherwise called the Log4Shell vulnerability. "Apache Log4j2 versions 2.0-alpha1 through 2.16.0 did not protect from uncontrolled recursion from self-referential lookups," the ASF  explained  in a revised advisory. "When the logging configuration uses a non-default Pattern Layout with a Context Lookup (for example, $${ctx:loginId}), attackers with control o...
Hackers Begin Exploiting Second Log4j Vulnerability as a Third Flaw Emerges

Hackers Begin Exploiting Second Log4j Vulnerability as a Third Flaw Emerges

Dec 16, 2021
Web infrastructure company Cloudflare on Wednesday revealed that threat actors are actively attempting to exploit a  second bug  disclosed in the widely used Log4j logging utility, making it imperative that customers move quickly to install the latest version as a barrage of attacks continues to pummel unpatched systems with a variety of malware. The new vulnerability, assigned the identifier  CVE-2021-45046 , makes it possible for adversaries to carry out denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and follows disclosure from the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) that the original fix for the remote code execution bug — CVE-2021-44228 aka Log4Shell — was "incomplete in certain non-default configurations." The issue has since been addressed in Log4j version 2.16.0. "This vulnerability is actively being exploited and anyone using Log4j should update to version 2.16.0 as soon as possible, even if you have previously updated to 2.15.0," Cloudflare's Andre Bluehs and Gabriel ...
Second Log4j Vulnerability (CVE-2021-45046) Discovered — New Patch Released

Second Log4j Vulnerability (CVE-2021-45046) Discovered — New Patch Released

Dec 15, 2021
UPDATE — The severity score of CVE-2021-45046, originally classified as a DoS bug, has since been revised from 3.7 to 9.0, to reflect the fact that an attacker could abuse the vulnerability to send a specially crafted string that leads to "information leak and remote code execution in some environments and local code execution in all environments." The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has pushed out a new fix for the Log4j logging utility after the previous patch for the recently disclosed  Log4Shell  exploit was deemed as "incomplete in certain non-default configurations." The second vulnerability — tracked as  CVE-2021-45046  — is rated 3.7 out of a maximum of 10 on the CVSS rating system and affects all versions of Log4j from 2.0-beta9 through 2.12.1 and 2.13.0 through 2.15.0, which the project maintainers shipped last week to address a critical remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228) that could be abused to infiltrate and take over systems. ...
Apache Log4j Vulnerability — Log4Shell — Widely Under Active Attack

Apache Log4j Vulnerability — Log4Shell — Widely Under Active Attack

Dec 13, 2021
Threat actors are actively weaponizing unpatched servers affected by the newly identified " Log4Shell " vulnerability in Log4j to install cryptocurrency miners, Cobalt Strike, and recruit the devices into a botnet, even as telemetry signs point to exploitation of the flaw nine days before it even came to light. Netlab, the networking security division of Chinese tech giant Qihoo 360,  disclosed  threats such as  Mirai  and  Muhstik  (aka Tsunami) are setting their sights on vulnerable systems to spread the infection and grow its computing power to orchestrate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks with the goal of overwhelming a target and rendering it unusable. Muhstik was previously spotted exploiting a critical security flaw in Atlassian Confluence ( CVE-2021-26084 , CVSS score: 9.8) earlier this September. The latest development comes as it has emerged that the vulnerability has been under attack for at least more than a week prior to its pub...
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