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A recently disclosed security flaw in OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools has been exploited as part of multiple campaigns to deliver cryptocurrency miners, botnet malware such as Condi and JenX, and a known backdoor called SideWalk. The security vulnerability is a critical remote code execution bug (CVE-2024-36401, CVSS score: 9.8) that could allow malicious actors to take over susceptible instances. In mid-July, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The Shadowserver Foundation said it detected exploitation attempts against its honeypot sensors starting July 9, 2024. According to Fortinet FortiGuard Labs, the flaw has been observed to deliver GOREVERSE, a reverse proxy server designed to establish a connection with a command-and-control (C2) server for post-exploitation activity. These attacks are said to target IT service providers in India, technology comp

A years-old high-severity flaw impacting AVTECH IP cameras has been weaponized by malicious actors as a zero-day to rope them into a botnet. CVE-2024-7029 (CVSS score: 8.7), the vulnerability in question, is a "command injection vulnerability found in the brightness function of AVTECH closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras that allows for remote code execution (RCE)," Akamai researchers Kyle Lefton, Larry Cashdollar, and Aline Eliovich said . Details of the security shortcoming were first made public earlier this month by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), highlighting its low attack complexity and the ability to exploit it remotely. "Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to inject and execute commands as the owner of the running process," the agency noted in an alert published August 1, 2024. It's worth noting that the issue remains unpatched. It impacts AVM1203 camera devices using firmwar

A comprehensive guide authored by Dean Parsons, SANS Certified Instructor and CEO / Principal Consultant of ICS Defense Force, emphasizes the growing need for specialized ICS security measures in the face of rising cyber threats. With a staggering 50% increase in ransomware attacks targeting industrial control systems (ICS) in 2023, the SANS Institute is taking decisive action by announcing the release of its essential new strategy guide, " ICS Is the Business: Why Securing ICS/OT Environments Is Business-Critical in 2024 ." Authored by Dean Parsons, CEO of ICS Defense Force and a SANS Certified Instructor, this guide offers a comprehensive analysis of the rapidly evolving threat landscape and provides critical steps that organizations must take to safeguard their operations and ensure public safety. As cyber threats grow in both frequency and sophistication, this guide is an indispensable resource for securing the vital systems that underpin our world. Key Insights from t

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new variant of the Gafgyt botnet that's targeting machines with weak SSH passwords to ultimately mine cryptocurrency on compromised instances using their GPU computational power. This indicates that the "IoT botnet is targeting more robust servers running on cloud native environments," Aqua Security researcher Assaf Morag said in a Wednesday analysis. Gafgyt (aka BASHLITE, Lizkebab, and Torlus), known to be active in the wild since 2014, has a history of exploiting weak or default credentials to gain control of devices such as routers, cameras, and digital video recorders (DVRs). It's also capable of leveraging known security flaws in Dasan, Huawei, Realtek, SonicWall, and Zyxel devices. The infected devices are corralled into a botnet capable of launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against targets of interest. There is evidence to suggest that Gafgyt and Necro are operated by a threat group calle

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software is at the heart of many enterprising supporting human resources, accounting, shipping, and manufacturing. These systems can become very complex and difficult to maintain. They are often highly customized, which can make patching difficult. However, critical vulnerabilities keep affecting these systems and put critical business data at risk.  The SANS Internet Storm Center published a report showing how the open-source ERP framework OFBiz is currently the target of new varieties of the Mirai botnet. As part of its extensive project portfolio, the Apache Foundation supports OFBiz , a Java-based framework for creating ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) applications. OFBiz appears to be far less prevalent than commercial alternatives. However, just as with any other ERP system, organizations rely on it for sensitive business data, and the security of these ERP systems is critical. In May this year, a critical security update was released f

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new botnet called Zergeca that's capable of conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Written in Golang, the botnet is so named for its reference to a string named "ootheca" present in the command-and-control (C2) servers ("ootheca[.]pw" and "ootheca[.]top"). "Functionally, Zergeca is not just a typical DDoS botnet; besides supporting six different attack methods, it also has capabilities for proxying, scanning, self-upgrading, persistence, file transfer, reverse shell, and collecting sensitive device information," the QiAnXin XLab team said in a report. Zergeca is also notable for using DNS-over-HTTPS ( DoH ) to perform Domain Name System (DNS) resolution of the C2 server and using a lesser-known library known as Smux for C2 communications. There is evidence to suggest that the attackers behind the botnet are actively developing and updating the malware to support new commands

The peer-to-peer malware botnet known as P2PInfect has been found targeting misconfigured Redis servers with ransomware and cryptocurrency miners. The development marks the threat's transition from what appeared to be a dormant botnet with unclear motives to a financially motivated operation. "With its latest updates to the crypto miner, ransomware payload, and rootkit elements, it demonstrates the malware author's continued efforts into profiting off their illicit access and spreading the network further, as it continues to worm across the internet," Cado Security said in a report published this week. P2PInfect came to light nearly a year ago, and has since received updates to target MIPS and ARM architectures. Earlier this January, Nozomi Networks uncovered the use of the malware to deliver miner payloads. It typically spreads by targeting Redis servers and its replication feature to transform victim systems into a follower node of the attacker-controlled server

Threat actors have been observed deploying a malware called NiceRAT to co-opt infected devices into a botnet. The attacks, which target South Korean users, are designed to propagate the malware under the guise of cracked software, such as Microsoft Windows, or tools that purport to offer license verification for Microsoft Office. "Due to the nature of crack programs, information sharing amongst ordinary users contributes to the malware's distribution independently from the initial distributor," the AhnLab Security Intelligence Center (ASEC) said . "Because threat actors typically explain ways to remove anti-malware programs during the distribution phase, it is difficult to detect the distributed malware." Alternate distribution vectors involve the use of a botnet comprising zombie computers that are infiltrated by a remote access trojan (RAT) known as NanoCore RAT , mirroring prior activity that leveraged the Nitol DDoS malware for propagating another malware

The Cyber Police of Ukraine has announced the arrest of a local man who is suspected to have offered their services to LockBit and Conti ransomware groups. The unnamed 28-year-old native of the Kharkiv region allegedly specialized in the development of crypters to encrypt and obfuscate malicious payloads in order to evade detection by security programs. The product is believed to have been offered to the Conti and LockBit ransomware syndicates that then used the crypter to disguise the file-encrypting malware and launch successful attacks. "And at the end of 2021, members of the [Conti] group infected the computer networks of enterprises in the Netherlands and Belgium with hidden malware," according to a translated version of the statement released by the agency. As part of the investigation, authorities conducted searches in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and seized computer equipment, mobile phones, and notebooks. If found guilty, the defendant is expected to face up to 15 years

Cybersecurity researchers have shed more light on a Chinese actor codenamed SecShow that has been observed conducting Domain Name System (DNS) on a global scale since at least June 2023. The adversary, according to Infoblox security researchers Dr. Renée Burton and Dave Mitchell, operates from the China Education and Research Network ( CERNET ), a project funded by the Chinese government. "These probes seek to find and measure DNS responses at open resolvers," they said in a report published last week. "The end goal of the SecShow operations is unknown, but the information that is gathered can be used for malicious activities and is only for the benefit of the actor." That said, there is some evidence to suggest that it may have been linked to some kind of academic research related to "performing measurements using IP Address Spoofing Techniques on domains within secshow.net" modeled on the same approach as the Closed Resolver Project . This, howeve

Muhstik botnet exploits a critical Apache RocketMQ flaw (CVE-2023-33246) for remote code execution , targeting Linux servers and IoT devices for DDoS attacks and cryptocurrency mining . Infection involves executing a shell script from a remote IP, downloading the Muhstik malware binary ("pty3") , and ensuring persistence by copying to multiple directories and editing system files. With over 5,000 vulnerable Apache RocketMQ instances still exposed, organizations must update to the latest version to mitigate risks, while securing MS-SQL servers against brute-force attacks and ensuring regular password changes. The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet known as Muhstik has been observed leveraging a now-patched security flaw impacting Apache RocketMQ to co-opt susceptible servers and expand its scale. "Muhstik is a well-known threat targeting IoT devices and Linux-based servers, notorious for its ability to infect devices and utilize the

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added a security flaw impacting the Oracle WebLogic Server to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. Tracked as CVE-2017-3506 (CVSS score: 7.4), the issue concerns an operating system (OS) command injection vulnerability that could be exploited to obtain unauthorized access to susceptible servers and take complete control. "Oracle WebLogic Server, a product within the Fusion Middleware suite, contains an OS command injection vulnerability that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted HTTP request that includes a malicious XML document," CISA said. While the agency did not disclose the nature of attacks exploiting the vulnerability, the China-based cryptojacking group known as the 8220 Gang (aka Water Sigbin) has a history of leveraging it since early last year to co-opt unpatched devices into a crypto-mining bot

Law enforcement authorities behind Operation Endgame are seeking information related to an individual who goes by the name Odd and is allegedly the mastermind behind the Emotet malware.  Odd is also said to go by the nicknames Aron, C700, Cbd748, Ivanov Odd, Mors, Morse, and Veron over the past few years, according to a video released by the agencies. "Who is he working with? What is his current product?," the video continues, suggesting that he is likely not acting alone and may be collaborating with others on malware other than Emotet. The threat actor(s) behind Emotet has been tracked by the cybersecurity community under the monikers Gold Crestwood, Mealybug, Mummy Spider, and TA542. Originally conceived as a banking trojan, it evolved into a broader-purpose tool capable of delivering other payloads, along the lines of malware such as TrickBot, IcedID, QakBot, and others. It re-emerged in late 2021, albeit as part of low-volume campaigns, following a law enforceme

The Russian GRU-backed threat actor APT28 has been attributed as behind a series of campaigns targeting networks across Europe with the HeadLace malware and credential-harvesting web pages. APT28, also known by the names BlueDelta, Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, ITG05, Pawn Storm, Sednit, Sofacy, and TA422, is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group affiliated with Russia's strategic military intelligence unit, the GRU. The hacking crew operates with a high level of stealth and sophistication, often demonstrating their adaptability through deep preparedness and custom tooling, and relying on legitimate internet services (LIS) and living off-the-land binaries (LOLBins) to conceal their operations within regular network traffic. "From April to December 2023, BlueDelta deployed Headlace malware in three distinct phases using geofencing techniques to target networks throughout Europe with a heavy focus on Ukraine," Recorded Future's Insikt

Europol on Thursday said it shut down the infrastructure associated with several malware loader operations such as IcedID, SystemBC, PikaBot, SmokeLoader, Bumblebee, and TrickBot as part of a coordinated law enforcement effort codenamed Operation Endgame . "The actions focused on disrupting criminal services through arresting High Value Targets, taking down the criminal infrastructures and freezing illegal proceeds," Europol said in a statement. "The malware [...] facilitated attacks with ransomware and other malicious software." The action, which took place between May 27 and May 29, has resulted in the dismantling of over 100 servers worldwide and the arrest of four people, one in Armenia three in Ukraine , following searches across 16 locations in Armenia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Ukraine. The servers, according to Europol, were located in Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday said it dismantled what it described as "likely the world's largest botnet ever," which consisted of an army of 19 million infected devices that was leased to other threat actors to commit a wide array of offenses. The botnet, which has a global footprint spanning more than 190 countries , functioned as a residential proxy service known as 911 S5 . A 35-year-old Chinese national, YunHe Wang, was arrested in Singapore on May 24, 2024, for creating and acting as the primary administrator of the illegal platform from 2014 to July 2022. Wang has been charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, substantive computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, Wang faces a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison. The Justice Department said the botnet was used to carry out cyber attacks, financial fraud, identity theft, child exploitation, harassment, bo

The threat actors behind the CatDDoS malware botnet have exploited over 80 known security flaws in various software over the past three months to infiltrate vulnerable devices and co-opt them into a botnet for conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. "CatDDoS-related gangs' samples have used a large number of known vulnerabilities to deliver samples," the QiAnXin XLab team  said . "Additionally, the maximum number of targets has been observed to exceed 300+ per day." The flaws impact routers, networking gear, and other devices from vendors such as Apache (ActiveMQ, Hadoop, Log4j, and RocketMQ), Cacti, Cisco, D-Link, DrayTek, FreePBX, GitLab, Gocloud, Huawei, Jenkins, Linksys, Metabase, NETGEAR, Realtek, Seagate, SonicWall, Tenda, TOTOLINK, TP-Link, ZTE, and Zyxel, among others. CatDDoS was previously documented by  QiAnXin  and  NSFOCUS  in late 2023, describing it as a  Mirai botnet variant  capable of performing DDoS attacks using UDP, TCP,