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A DarkGate malware campaign observed in mid-January 2024 leveraged a recently patched security flaw in Microsoft Windows as a zero-day using bogus software installers. "During this campaign, users were lured using PDFs that contained Google DoubleClick Digital Marketing (DDM) open redirects that led unsuspecting victims to compromised sites hosting the Microsoft Windows SmartScreen bypass CVE-2024-21412 that led to malicious Microsoft (.MSI) installers," Trend Micro  said . CVE-2024-21412 (CVSS score: 8.1) concerns an internet shortcut files security feature bypass vulnerability that permits an unauthenticated attacker to circumvent SmartScreen protections by tricking a victim into clicking on a specially crafted file. It was  fixed  by Microsoft as part of its Patch Tuesday updates for February 2024, but not before it was weaponized by a threat actor called  Water Hydra  (aka DarkCasino) to deliver the DarkMe malware in attacks targeting financial instituti...

Fortinet has warned of a critical security flaw impacting its FortiClientEMS software that could allow attackers to achieve code execution on affected systems. "An improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability [CWE-89] in FortiClientEMS may allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute unauthorized code or commands via specifically crafted requests," the company  said  in an advisory. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-48788, carries a CVSS rating of 9.3 out of a maximum of 10. It impacts the following versions - FortiClientEMS 7.2.0 through 7.2.2 (Upgrade to 7.2.3 or above) FortiClientEMS 7.0.1 through 7.0.10 (Upgrade to 7.0.11 or above) Horizon3.ai, which  plans  to release additional technical details and a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit next week, said the shortcoming could be exploited to obtain remote code execution as SYSTEM on the server. Fortinet has credited Thiago Santana from the Forticlien...

One of the most common misconceptions in file upload cybersecurity is that certain tools are "enough" on their own—this is simply not the case. In our latest  whitepaper  OPSWAT CEO and Founder, Benny Czarny, takes a comprehensive look at what it takes to prevent malware threats in today's ever-evolving file upload security landscape, and a big part of that is understanding where the pitfalls are, and how to avoid them. The first step in that process is understanding that three commonly used tools or solutions are not enough on their own. Let's explore this concept and take a closer look at a better solution. Understanding the Challenge Modern web applications are complex, utilizing internet-connected IT systems that interface with critical OT systems, as well as leveraging a wide range of cloud providers and protocols. All these systems transfer and store highly sensitive and valuable data across government, healthcare, power, financial, and other critical sectors the wor...

The threat actors behind the PixPirate Android banking trojan are leveraging a new trick to evade detection on compromised devices and harvest sensitive information from users in Brazil. The approach allows it to hide the malicious app's icon from the home screen of the victim's device, IBM said in a technical report published today. "Thanks to this new technique, during PixPirate reconnaissance and attack phases, the victim remains oblivious to the malicious operations that this malware performs in the background," security researcher Nir Somech  said . PixPirate, which was  first documented  by Cleafy in February 2023, is known for its abuse of Android's accessibility services to covertly perform unauthorized fund transfers using the PIX instant payment platform when a targeted banking app is opened. The constantly mutating malware is also capable of stealing victims' online banking credentials and credit card information, as well as capturing keystrokes and interc...

Identities are the latest sweet spot for cybercriminals, now heavily targeting SaaS applications that are especially vulnerable in this attack vector. The use of SaaS applications involves a wide range of identities, including human and non-human, such as service accounts, API keys, and OAuth authorizations. Consequently, any identity in a SaaS app can create an opening for cybercriminals to compromise, leading to data breaches, compliance violations, and financial losses.  Many safeguards have been developed to better protect human identities, including multi-factor identification and single sign-on (SSO). These measures can protect enterprises against attacks using stolen credentials, such as password sprays.  Protecting non-human identities is more challenging, as MFA and SSO are usually not feasible with accounts that are not associated with any individual employee. Non-human accounts are also more sensitive since they come with the high privileges needed for integrati...

Google's  Gemini  large language model (LLM) is susceptible to security threats that could cause it to divulge system prompts, generate harmful content, and carry out indirect injection attacks. The findings come from HiddenLayer, which said the issues impact consumers using Gemini Advanced with Google Workspace as well as companies using the LLM API. The first vulnerability involves getting around security guardrails to leak the system prompts (or a system message), which are designed to set conversation-wide instructions to the LLM to help it generate more useful responses, by asking the model to output its "foundational instructions" in a markdown block. "A system message can be used to inform the LLM about the context," Microsoft  notes  in its documentation about LLM prompt engineering. "The context may be the type of conversation it is engaging in, or the function it is supposed to perform. It helps the LLM generate more appropriate responses....

A new phishing campaign has been observed delivering remote access trojans (RAT) such as VCURMS and STRRAT by means of a malicious Java-based downloader. "The attackers stored malware on public services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and GitHub, employing a commercial protector to avoid detection of the malware," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researcher Yurren Wan  said . An unusual aspect of the campaign is VCURMS' use of a Proton Mail email address ("sacriliage@proton[.]me") for communicating with a command-and-control (C2) server. The attack chain commences with a phishing email that urges recipients to click on a button to verify payment information, resulting in the download of a malicious JAR file ("Payment-Advice.jar") hosted on AWS. Executing the JAR file leads to the retrieval of two more JAR files, which are then run separately to launch the twin trojans. Besides sending an email with the message "Hey master, I am online" to the actor-controlled address, VCURMS RAT peri...

Microsoft on Tuesday released its monthly security update,  addressing 61 different security flaws  spanning its software, including two critical issues impacting Windows Hyper-V that could lead to denial-of-service (DoS) and remote code execution. Of the 61 vulnerabilities, two are rated Critical, 58 are rated Important, and one is rated Low in severity. None of the flaws are listed as publicly known or under active attack at the time of the release, but six of them have been tagged with an "Exploitation More Likely" assessment. The fixes are in addition to  17 security flaws  that have been patched in the company's Chromium-based Edge browser since the release of the  February 2024 Patch Tuesday updates . Topping the list of critical shortcomings are  CVE-2024-21407  and  CVE-2024-21408 , which affect Hyper-V and could result in remote code execution and a DoS condition, respectively. Microsoft's update also addresses privilege escalation f...

Threat hunters have discovered a set of seven packages on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that are designed to steal  BIP39 mnemonic phrases  used for recovering private keys of a cryptocurrency wallet. The software supply chain attack campaign has been codenamed BIPClip by ReversingLabs. The packages were collectively downloaded 7,451 times prior to them being removed from PyPI. The list of packages is as follows - jsBIP39-decrypt  (126 downloads) bip39-mnemonic-decrypt  (689 downloads) mnemonic_to_address  (771 downloads) erc20-scanner  (343 downloads) public-address-generator  (1,005 downloads) hashdecrypt  (4,292 downloads) hashdecrypts  (225 downloads) BIPClip, which is aimed at developers working on projects related to generating and securing cryptocurrency wallets, is said to be active since at least December 4, 2022, when hashdecrypt was first published to the registry. "This is just the latest software supply ...