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New Perfctl Malware Targets Linux Servers for Cryptocurrency Mining and Proxyjacking

New Perfctl Malware Targets Linux Servers for Cryptocurrency Mining and Proxyjacking

Oct 03, 2024 Linux / Malware
Misconfigured and vulnerable Linux servers are the target of an ongoing campaign that delivers a stealthy malware dubbed perfctl with the primary aim of running a cryptocurrency miner and proxyjacking software. "Perfctl is particularly elusive and persistent, employing several sophisticated techniques," Aqua security researchers Assaf Morag and Idan Revivo said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "When a new user logs into the server, it immediately stops all 'noisy' activities, lying dormant until the server is idle again. After execution, it deletes its binary and continues to run quietly in the background as a service." It's worth noting that some aspects of the campaign were disclosed last month by Cado Security, which detailed an activity cluster that targets internet-exposed Selenium Grid instances with both cryptocurrency mining and proxyjacking software. Specifically, the fileless perfctl malware has been found to exploit a security
New Malware PG_MEM Targets PostgreSQL Databases for Crypto Mining

New Malware PG_MEM Targets PostgreSQL Databases for Crypto Mining

Aug 22, 2024 Database Security / Cryptocurrency
Cybersecurity researchers have unpacked a new malware strain dubbed PG_MEM that's designed to mine cryptocurrency after brute-forcing their way into PostgreSQL database instances. "Brute-force attacks on Postgres involve repeatedly attempting to guess the database credentials until access is gained, exploiting weak passwords," Aqua security researcher Assaf Morag said in a technical report. "Once accessed, attackers can leverage the COPY ... FROM PROGRAM SQL command to execute arbitrary shell commands on the host, allowing them to perform malicious activities such as data theft or deploying malware." The attack chain observed by the cloud security firm entails targeting misconfigured PostgreSQL databases to create an administrator role in Postgres and exploiting a feature called PROGRAM to run shell commands. In addition, a successful brute-force attack is followed by the threat actor conducting initial reconnaissance and executing commands to strip the
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Online Master's in Applied Intelligence

websiteGeorgetown UniversityCyber Security
More than 90% of respondents expressed concern over their team and tooling's ability to detect identity-based attacks. Learn about critical gaps in security programs and what environments pose the most risk to security teams. Download the Report.
Hackers Exploit Misconfigured Jupyter Notebooks with Repurposed Minecraft DDoS Tool

Hackers Exploit Misconfigured Jupyter Notebooks with Repurposed Minecraft DDoS Tool

Aug 03, 2024 DDoS Attack / Server Security
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack campaign targeting misconfigured Jupyter Notebooks. The activity, codenamed Panamorfi by cloud security firm Aqua, utilizes a Java-based tool called mineping to launch a TCP flood DDoS attack. Mineping is a DDoS package designed for Minecraft game servers. Attack chains entail the exploitation of internet-exposed Jupyter Notebook instances to run wget commands for fetching a ZIP archive hosted on a file-sharing site called Filebin. The ZIP file contains two Java archive (JAR) files, conn.jar and mineping.jar, with the former used to establish connections to a Discord channel and trigger the execution of the mineping.jar package. "This attack aims to consume the resources of the target server by sending a large number of TCP connection requests," Aqua researcher Assaf Morag said . "The results are written to the Discord channel." The attack campaign has bee
cyber security

Permiso Security's 2024 State of Identity Security Report

websitePermisoThreat Detection / Identity Security
More than 90% of respondents expressed concern over their team and tooling's ability to detect identity-based attacks. Learn about critical gaps in security programs and what environments pose the most risk to security teams. Download the Report.
Critical Apache HugeGraph Vulnerability Under Attack - Patch ASAP

Critical Apache HugeGraph Vulnerability Under Attack - Patch ASAP

Jul 17, 2024 Vulnerability / Data Security
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
Hackers Exploiting Jenkins Script Console for Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks

Hackers Exploiting Jenkins Script Console for Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks

Jul 09, 2024 CI/CD Security / Server Security
Cybersecurity researchers have found that it's possible for attackers to weaponize improperly configured Jenkins Script Console instances to further criminal activities such as cryptocurrency mining. "Misconfigurations such as improperly set up authentication mechanisms expose the '/script' endpoint to attackers," Trend Micro's Shubham Singh and Sunil Bharti said in a technical write-up published last week. "This can lead to remote code execution (RCE) and misuse by malicious actors." Jenkins, a popular continuous integration and continuous delivery ( CI/CD ) platform, features a Groovy script console that allows users to run arbitrary Groovy scripts within the Jenkins controller runtime. The project maintainers, in the official documentation, explicitly note that the web-based Groovy shell can be used to read files containing sensitive data (e.g., "/etc/passwd"), decrypt credentials configured within Jenkins, and even reconfigure sec
Critical F5 Central Manager Vulnerabilities Allow Enable Full Device Takeover

Critical F5 Central Manager Vulnerabilities Allow Enable Full Device Takeover

May 09, 2024 Firewall / Network Security
Two security vulnerabilities have been discovered in F5 Next Central Manager that could be exploited by a threat actor to seize control of the devices and create hidden rogue administrator accounts for persistence. The remotely exploitable flaws "can give attackers full administrative control of the device, and subsequently allow attackers to create accounts on any F5 assets managed by the Next Central Manager," security firm Eclypsium  said  in a new report. A description of the two issues is as follows - CVE-2024-21793  (CVSS score: 7.5) - An OData injection vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute malicious SQL statements through the BIG-IP NEXT Central Manager API CVE-2024-26026  (CVSS score: 7.5) - An SQL injection vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute malicious SQL statements through the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API Both the flaws impact Next Central Manager versions from 20.0.1 to 20.1.0. The sho
Critical Tinyproxy Flaw Opens Over 50,000 Hosts to Remote Code Execution

Critical Tinyproxy Flaw Opens Over 50,000 Hosts to Remote Code Execution

May 06, 2024 Vulnerability / Server Security
More than 50% of the 90,310 hosts have been found exposing a  Tinyproxy service  on the internet that's vulnerable to a critical unpatched security flaw in the HTTP/HTTPS proxy tool. The issue, tracked as  CVE-2023-49606 , carries a CVSS score of 9.8 out of a maximum of 10, per Cisco Talos, which described it as a use-after-free bug impacting versions 1.10.0 and 1.11.1, the latter of which is the latest version. "A specially crafted HTTP header can trigger reuse of previously freed memory, which leads to memory corruption and could lead to remote code execution," Talos  said  in an advisory last week. "An attacker needs to make an unauthenticated HTTP request to trigger this vulnerability." In other words, an unauthenticated threat actor could send a specially crafted  HTTP Connection header  to trigger memory corruption that can result in remote code execution. According to  data  shared by attack surface management company Censys, of the 90,310 hosts exp
Expert-Led Webinar - Uncovering Latest DDoS Tactics and Learn How to Fight Back

Expert-Led Webinar - Uncovering Latest DDoS Tactics and Learn How to Fight Back

May 03, 2024 Live Webinar / Server Security
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the threat of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks looms more significant than ever. As these cyber threats grow in sophistication, understanding and countering them becomes crucial for any business seeking to protect its online presence. To address this urgent need, we are thrilled to announce our upcoming webinar, " Uncovering Contemporary DDoS Attack Tactics—How to Fight Back ," featuring the expertise of Andrey Slastenov, Head of Security at Gcore. What You Will Learn: Understanding the Threat:  Explore the escalated risks DDoS attacks pose to your business, including recent advancements in attack strategies like IoT botnets and amplification tactics. Real-World Consequences:  Hear firsthand accounts of businesses that faced these attacks and the impacts on their operations and reputation. Proactive Defense Strategies:  Learn actionable steps to enhance your cybersecurity posture and effectively mitigate po
Hackers Exploit Misconfigured YARN, Docker, Confluence, Redis Servers for Crypto Mining

Hackers Exploit Misconfigured YARN, Docker, Confluence, Redis Servers for Crypto Mining

Mar 06, 2024 Server Security / Cryptocurrency
Threat actors are targeting misconfigured and vulnerable servers running Apache Hadoop YARN, Docker, Atlassian Confluence, and Redis services as part of an emerging malware campaign designed to deliver a cryptocurrency miner and spawn a reverse shell for persistent remote access. "The attackers leverage these tools to issue exploit code, taking advantage of common misconfigurations and exploiting an N-day vulnerability, to conduct Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks and infect new hosts," Cado security researcher Matt Muir  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. The activity has been codenamed  Spinning YARN  by the cloud security company, with overlaps to cloud attacks attributed to  TeamTNT ,  WatchDog , and a cluster dubbed  Kiss-a-dog . It all starts with deploying four novel Golang payloads that are capable of automating the identification and exploitation of susceptible Confluence, Docker, Hadoop YARN, and Redis hosts. The spreader utilities leverage masscan or pnscan
HeadCrab 2.0 Goes Fileless, Targeting Redis Servers for Crypto Mining

HeadCrab 2.0 Goes Fileless, Targeting Redis Servers for Crypto Mining

Feb 01, 2024 Cryptocurrency / Botnet
Cybersecurity researchers have detailed an updated version of the malware  HeadCrab  that's known to target Redis database servers across the world since early September 2021. The development, which comes exactly a year after the malware was first  publicly disclosed  by Aqua, is a sign that the financially-motivated threat actor behind the campaign is actively adapting and refining their tactics and techniques to stay ahead of the detection curve. The cloud security firm  said  that "the campaign has almost doubled the number of infected Redis servers," with an additional 1,100 compromised servers, up from 1,200 reported at the start of 2023. HeadCrab is designed to infiltrate internet-exposed Redis servers and wrangle them into a botnet for illicitly mining cryptocurrency, while also leveraging the access in a manner that allows the threat actor to execute shell commands, load fileless kernel modules, and exfiltrate data to a remote server. While the origins of th
From Megabits to Terabits: Gcore Radar Warns of a New Era of DDoS Attacks

From Megabits to Terabits: Gcore Radar Warns of a New Era of DDoS Attacks

Jan 23, 2024 Cybersecurity / Server Security
As we enter 2024, Gcore has released its latest Gcore Radar report, a twice-annual publication in which the company releases internal analytics to track DDoS attacks. Gcore's broad, internationally distributed network of scrubbing centers allows them to follow attack trends over time. Read on to learn about DDoS attack trends for Q3–Q4 of 2023, and what they mean for developing a robust protection strategy in 2024. Gcore's Key Findings DDoS attack trends for the second half of 2023 reveal alarming developments in the scale and sophistication of cyberthreats. Unprecedented Attack Power The past three years have brought about a >100% annual increase in DDoS peak (registered maximum) attack volume: In 2021, the peak capacity of DDoS attacks was  300 Gbps In 2022, it increased to  650 Gbps In Q1–Q2 of 2023, it increased again to  800 Gbps In Q3–Q4 of 2023, it surged to  1600 Gbps  (1.6 Tbps) Notably, the jump in H2 of 2023 means the cybersecurity industry is measuring DDoS a
Experts Uncover Passive Method to Extract Private RSA Keys from SSH Connections

Experts Uncover Passive Method to Extract Private RSA Keys from SSH Connections

Nov 27, 2023 Server Security / Encryption
A new study has demonstrated that it's possible for passive network attackers to obtain private RSA host keys from a vulnerable SSH server by observing when naturally occurring computational faults that occur while the connection is being established. The Secure Shell (SSH) protocol is a method for securely transmitting commands and logging in to a computer over an unsecured network. Based on a client-server architecture, SSH uses cryptography to authenticate and encrypt connections between devices. A host key is a cryptographic key used for authenticating computers in the SSH protocol. Host keys are key pairs that are typically generated using public-key cryptosystems like RSA . "If a signing implementation using CRT-RSA has a fault during signature computation, an attacker who observes this signature may be able to compute the signer's private key," a group of academics from the University of California, San Diego, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology said
The Rise of S3 Ransomware: How to Identify and Combat It

The Rise of S3 Ransomware: How to Identify and Combat It

Oct 25, 2023 Ransomware/ Malware Threat
In today's digital landscape, around  60%  of corporate data now resides in the cloud, with Amazon S3 standing as the backbone of data storage for many major corporations.  Despite S3 being a secure service from a reputable provider, its pivotal role in handling vast amounts of sensitive data (customer personal information, financial data, intellectual property, etc.), provides a juicy target for threat actors. It remains susceptible to ransomware attacks which are often initiated using leaked access keys that have accidentally been exposed by human error and have access to the organization's buckets. To effectively combat these evolving threats, it is vital to ensure that your organization has visibility into your S3 environment, that you are aware of how threat actors can compromise data for ransom and most importantly, best practices for minimizing the risk of cyber criminals successfully executing such an attack. Ensuring Visibility: CloudTrail and Server Access Logs V
HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Zero-Day Vulnerability Exploited to Launch Record DDoS Attacks

HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Zero-Day Vulnerability Exploited to Launch Record DDoS Attacks

Oct 10, 2023 Server Security / Vulnerability
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloudflare, and Google on Tuesday said they took steps to mitigate record-breaking distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that relied on a novel technique called HTTP/2 Rapid Reset. The  layer 7 attacks  were detected in late August 2023, the companies said in a coordinated disclosure. The cumulative susceptibility to this attack is being tracked as  CVE-2023-44487 , and carries a CVSS score of 7.5 out of a maximum of 10. While the attacks aimed at Google's cloud infrastructure peaked at  398 million requests per second  (RPS), the ones that struck AWS and Cloudflare exceeded a volume of 155 million and 201 million RPS, respectively. HTTP/2 Rapid Reset refers to a zero-day flaw in the HTTP/2 protocol that can be exploited to carry out DDoS attacks. A significant feature of HTTP/2 is multiplexing requests over a single TCP connection, which manifests in the form of concurrent streams. What's more, a client that wants to abort a request can
Atlassian Confluence Hit by New Actively Exploited Zero-Day – Patch Now

Atlassian Confluence Hit by New Actively Exploited Zero-Day – Patch Now

Oct 05, 2023 Zero Day / Vulnerability
Atlassian has released fixes to contain an actively exploited critical zero-day flaw impacting publicly accessible Confluence Data Center and Server instances. The vulnerability, tracked as  CVE-2023-22515 , is remotely exploitable and allows external attackers to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence servers. It does not impact Confluence versions prior to 8.0.0. Confluence sites accessed via an atlassian.net domain are also not vulnerable to this issue. The enterprise software services provider  said  it was made aware of the issue by "a handful of customers." It has been addressed in the following versions of Confluence Data Center and Server - 8.3.3 or later 8.4.3 or later, and 8.5.2 (Long Term Support release) or later The company, however, did not disclose any further specifics about the nature and scale of the exploitation, or the root cause of the vulnerability. Customers who are unable to apply the updates are advised
Protecting your IT infrastructure with Security Configuration Assessment (SCA)

Protecting your IT infrastructure with Security Configuration Assessment (SCA)

Oct 03, 2023 Network Security / XDR / SIEM
Security Configuration Assessment (SCA)  is critical to an organization's cybersecurity strategy. SCA aims to discover vulnerabilities and misconfigurations that malicious actors exploit to gain unauthorized access to systems and data. Regular  security configuration assessments  are essential in maintaining a secure and compliant environment, as this minimizes the risk of cyber attacks. The assessment provides insight into your current security posture by performing configuration baseline checks on services and applications running on critical systems. How SCA works  SCA is performed by checking the configurations of your IT assets against known benchmarks such as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmark and compliance standards such as NIST, GDPR, and HIPPA. Regulatory standards provide a global benchmark for best practices to help organizations enhance their IT hygiene and improve customer trust. The CIS benchmark provides a guideline for best practices for security c
Progress Software Releases Urgent Hotfixes for  Multiple Security Flaws in WS_FTP Server

Progress Software Releases Urgent Hotfixes for Multiple Security Flaws in WS_FTP Server

Sep 29, 2023 Server Security / Vulnerability
Progress Software has released hotfixes for a critical security vulnerability, alongside seven other flaws, in the WS_FTP Server Ad hoc Transfer Module and in the WS_FTP Server manager interface. Tracked as  CVE-2023-40044 , the flaw has a CVSS score of 10.0, indicating maximum severity. All versions of the software are impacted by the flaw. "In WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2, a pre-authenticated attacker could leverage a .NET deserialization vulnerability in the Ad Hoc Transfer module to execute remote commands on the underlying WS_FTP Server operating system," the company  said  in an advisory. Assetnote security researchers Shubham Shah and Sean Yeoh have been credited with discovering and reporting the vulnerability. The list of remaining flaws, impacting WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.8.2, is as follows - CVE-2023-42657  (CVSS score: 9.9) - A directory traversal vulnerability that could be exploited to perform file operations. CVE-2023-40045
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