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The Apache Software Foundation has released fixes to contain an  actively   exploited  zero-day vulnerability affecting the widely-used Apache Log4j Java-based logging library that could be weaponized to execute malicious code and allow a complete takeover of vulnerable systems. Tracked as  CVE-2021-44228  and by the monikers Log4Shell or LogJam, the issue concerns a case of unauthenticated, remote code execution (RCE) on any application that uses the open-source utility and affects versions Log4j 2.0-beta9 up to 2.14.1. The bug has scored a perfect 10 on 10 in the CVSS rating system, indicative of the severity of the issue. "An attacker who can control log messages or log message parameters can execute arbitrary code loaded from  LDAP  servers when message lookup substitution is enabled," the Apache Foundation  said  in an advisory. "From Log4j 2.15.0, this behavior has been disabled by default." Exploitation can be achieved by a single...

Details have emerged about what's the first Rust-language-based ransomware strain spotted in the wild that has already amassed "some victims from different countries" since its launch last month. The ransomware, dubbed  BlackCat , was  disclosed  by MalwareHunterTeam. "Victims can pay with Bitcoin or Monero," the researchers said in a series of tweets detailing the file-encrypting malware. "Also looks they are giving credentials to intermediaries" for negotiations. BlackCat, akin to many other variants that have sprung before it, operates as a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), wherein the core developers recruit affiliates to breach corporate environments and encrypt files, but not before stealing the said documents in a double extortion scheme to pressure the targets into paying the requested amount or risk exposure of the stolen data should the companies refuse to pay up. Security researcher Michael Gillespie  called  it a "very sophisticated...

As many as 1.6 million WordPress sites have been targeted by an active large-scale attack campaign originating from 16,000 IP addresses by exploiting weaknesses in four plugins and 15 Epsilon Framework themes. WordPress security company Wordfence, which  disclosed  details of the attacks, said Thursday it had detected and blocked more than 13.7 million attacks aimed at the plugins and themes in a period of 36 hours with the goal of taking over the websites and carrying out malicious actions. The plugins in question are Kiwi Social Share (<= 2.0.10), WordPress Automatic (<= 3.53.2), Pinterest Automatic (<= 4.14.3), and PublishPress Capabilities (<= 2.3), some of which have been patched dating all the way back to November 2018. The impacted Epsilon Framework themes and their corresponding versions are as follows — Activello (<=1.4.1) Affluent (<1.1.0) Allegiant (<=1.2.5) Antreas (<=1.0.6) Bonkers (<=1.0.5) Brilliance (<=1.2.9) Illdy (<=...

Russia has stepped up its censorship efforts in the country by fully blocking access to the Tor web anonymity service, coinciding with the  ban  of six virtual private network (VPN) operators, as the government continues its efforts to control the internet and crack down on attempts to circumvent locally imposed web restrictions. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor, the watchdog responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media, announced the block, accusing it of enabling access to illegal content, Reuters  reported  this week. Russia  accounts  for 15% of all Tor users, with more than 310,000 daily users, second only to the U.S. Tor, short for The Onion Router,  enables  users to automatically encrypt and reroute their web requests through a network of Tor relays for anonymizing network traffic, as well as help bypass censorship and p...

At least 300,000 IP addresses associated with MikroTik devices have been found vulnerable to multiple remotely exploitable security vulnerabilities that have since been patched by the popular supplier of routers and wireless ISP devices. The most affected devices are located in China, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Indonesia, with the U.S. coming in at number eight, cybersecurity firm Eclypsium said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "These devices are both powerful, [and] often highly vulnerable," the researchers  noted . "This has made MikroTik devices a favorite among threat actors who have commandeered the devices for everything from DDoS attacks, command-and-control (aka 'C2'), traffic tunneling, and more." MikroTik devices are an enticing target not least because there are more than two million of them deployed worldwide, posing a huge attack surface that can be leveraged by threat actors to mount an array of intrusions. Indeed, earlier this Septem...