Search results for exploited | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) this week added 95 more security flaws to its  Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog , taking the total number of actively exploited vulnerabilities to 478. "These types of vulnerabilities are a frequent attack vector for malicious cyber actors and pose significant risk to the federal enterprise," the agency  said  in an advisory published on March 3, 2022. Of the 95 newly added bugs, 38 relate to Cisco vulnerabilities, 27 for Microsoft, 16 for Adobe, seven impact Oracle, and one each corresponding to Apache Tomcat, ChakraCore, Exim, Mozilla Firefox, Linux Kernel, Siemens SIMATIC CP, and Treck TCP/IP stack. Included in the list are five issues discovered in Cisco RV routers, which CISA notes are being exploited in real-world attacks. The flaws, which  came to light  early last month, allow for the execution of arbitrary code with root privileges. Three of the vulnerabilities – CVE-2022-20699, CVE-2022-20

Microsoft is warning of an uptick among nation-state and criminal actors increasingly leveraging publicly-disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities for breaching target environments. The tech giant, in its 114-page  Digital Defense Report , said it has "observed a reduction in the time between the announcement of a vulnerability and the commoditization of that vulnerability," making it imperative that organizations patch such exploits in a timely manner. This also corroborates with an April 2022 advisory from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which  found  that bad actors are "aggressively" targeting newly disclosed software bugs against broad targets globally. Microsoft noted that it only takes 14 days on average for an exploit to be available in the wild after public disclosure of a flaw, stating that while zero-day attacks are initially limited in scope, they tend to be swiftly adopted by other threat actors, leading to indiscriminat

Imagine a world where the software that powers your favorite apps, secures your online transactions, and keeps your digital life could be outsmarted and taken over by a cleverly disguised piece of code. This isn't a plot from the latest cyber-thriller; it's actually been a reality for years now. How this will change – in a positive or negative direction – as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on a larger role in software development is one of the big uncertainties related to this brave new world. In an era where AI promises to revolutionize how we live and work, the conversation about its security implications cannot be sidelined. As we increasingly rely on AI for tasks ranging from mundane to mission-critical, the question is no longer just, "Can AI  boost cybersecurity ?" (sure!), but also "Can AI  be hacked? " (yes!), "Can one use AI  to hack? " (of course!), and "Will AI  produce secure software ?" (well…). This thought leadership article is about the latter. Cydrill  (a

Apple on Monday rolled out security updates for  iOS ,  macOS ,  tvOS ,  watchOS , and  Safari  web browser to fix multiple vulnerabilities, including an actively exploited zero-day flaw in macOS Big Sur and expand patches for two previously disclosed zero-day flaws.  Tracked as CVE-2021-30713, the zero-day concerns a permissions issue in Apple's Transparency, Consent, and Control ( TCC ) framework in macOS that maintains a database of each user's consents. The iPhone maker acknowledged that the issue may have been exploited in the wild but stopped short of sharing specifics. The company noted that it rectified the problem with improved validation. However, in a separate report, mobile device management company Jamf said the bypass flaw was being actively exploited by XCSSET, a malware that's been out in the wild since August 2020 and known to propagate via modified  Xcode IDE projects  hosted on GitHub repositories and plant malicious packages into legitimate apps ins

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has  added  a batch of six flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. This comprises three vulnerabilities that Apple patched this week ( CVE-2023-32434, CVE-2023-32435, and CVE-2023-32439 ), two flaws in VMware ( CVE-2023-20867  and  CVE-2023-20887 ), and one shortcoming impacting Zyxel devices ( CVE-2023-27992 ). CVE-2023-32434 and CVE-2023-32435, both of which allow code execution, are said to have been exploited as zero-days to deploy spyware as part of a years-long cyber espionage campaign that commenced in 2019. Dubbed Operation Triangulation, the activity culminates in the deployment of  TriangleDB  that's designed to harvest a wide range of information from compromised devices, such as creating, modifying, removing, and stealing files, listing and terminating processes, gathering credentials from iCloud Keychain, and tracking a user's location. The

Apple on Wednesday released a  slew of updates  for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari browser to address a set of flaws it said were actively exploited in the wild. This includes a pair of zero-days that have been weaponized in a mobile surveillance campaign called  Operation Triangulation  that has been active since 2019. The exact threat actor behind the activity is not known. CVE-2023-32434  - An integer overflow vulnerability in the Kernel that could be exploited by a malicious app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. CVE-2023-32435  - A memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. The iPhone maker said it's aware that the two issues "may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7," crediting Kaspersky researchers Georgy Kucherin, Leonid Bezvershenko, and Boris Larin for reporting them. The advisory comes as the Russia

Government agencies publish notices and directives all the time. Usually, these are only relevant to government departments, which means that nobody else really pays attention. It's easy to see why you would assume that a directive from CISA just doesn't relate to your organization. But, in the instance of the latest CISA directive, that would be making a mistake. In this article, we explain why, even if you're in the private or non-government sector, you should nonetheless take a close look at CISA Binding Operational Directive 22-01. We outline why CISA was forced to issue this directive, and why that firm action has implications for all organizations – inside and outside of government. Acting on cybersecurity issues isn't as simple as flicking a switch, of course, so keep reading to find out how you can address the core issue behind the CISA directive. Okay, so what exactly is a CISA directive? Let's take a step back to gain some context. Just like any organ

Any organization that handles sensitive data must be diligent in its security efforts, which include regular pen testing. Even a small data breach can result in significant damage to an organization's reputation and bottom line. There are two main reasons why regular pen testing is necessary for secure web application development: Security:  Web applications are constantly evolving, and new vulnerabilities are being discovered all the time. Pen testing helps identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers and allows you to fix them before they can do any damage. Compliance:  Depending on your industry and the type of data you handle, you may be required to comply with certain security standards (e.g., PCI DSS, NIST, HIPAA). Regular pen testing can help you verify that your web applications meet these standards and avoid penalties for non-compliance. How Often Should You Pentest? Many organizations, big and small,  have once a year pen testing cycle . But what

No, it's not a patch Tuesday. It's the third Tuesday of the month, and as The Hacker News shared an early heads-up late last week on Twitter, Adobe today finally released pre-announced out-of-band security updates to patch a total of 82 security vulnerabilities across its various products. The affected products that received security patches today include: Adobe Acrobat and Reader Adobe Experience Manager Adobe Experience Manager Forms Adobe Download Manager Out of 82 security vulnerabilities, 45 are rated critical, and all of them affect Adobe Acrobat and Reader and which, if exploited successfully, could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. A majority of critical-rated vulnerabilities (i.e., 26) in Adobe Acrobat and Reader reside due to use-after-free, 6 due to out-of-bounds write, 4 are type confusion bugs, 4 due to untrusted pointer dereference, 3 are heap overflow bugs, one buffer overrun and one race condition issue. Ad

A security flaw in Apple Safari that was exploited in the wild earlier this year was originally fixed in 2013 and reintroduced in December 2016, according to a new report from Google Project Zero. The issue, tracked as  CVE-2022-22620  (CVSS score: 8.8), concerns a case of a use-after-free vulnerability in the WebKit component that could be exploited by a piece of specially crafted web content to gain arbitrary code execution. In early February 2022, Apple shipped patches for the bug across Safari, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, while acknowledging that it "may have been actively exploited." "In this case, the variant was completely patched when the vulnerability was initially reported in 2013," Maddie Stone of Google Project Zero  said . "However, the variant was reintroduced three years later during large refactoring efforts. The vulnerability then continued to exist for 5 years until it was fixed as an in-the-wild zero-day in January 2022." While both th

For the first patch Tuesday of 2021, Microsoft released  security updates  addressing a total of 83 flaws spanning as many as 11 products and services, including an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability. The latest security patches cover Microsoft Windows, Edge browser, ChakraCore, Office and Microsoft Office Services, and Web Apps, Visual Studio, Microsoft Malware Protection Engine, .NET Core, ASP .NET, and Azure. Of these 83 bugs, 10 are listed as Critical, and 73 are listed as Important in severity. The most severe of the issues is a remote code execution (RCE) flaw in Microsoft Defender ( CVE-2021-1647 ) that could allow attackers to infect targeted systems with arbitrary code. Microsoft Malware Protection Engine (mpengine.dll) provides the scanning, detection, and cleaning capabilities for Microsoft Defender antivirus and antispyware software. The last version of the software affected by the flaw is 1.1.17600.5, before it was addressed in version 1.1.17700.4. The bug is

Google on Wednesday updated its May 2021 Android Security Bulletin to disclose that four of the security vulnerabilities that were patched earlier this month by Arm and Qualcomm may have been exploited in the wild as zero-days. "There are indications that CVE-2021-1905, CVE-2021-1906, CVE-2021-28663 and CVE-2021-28664 may be under limited, targeted exploitation," the search giant  said  in an updated alert. The four flaws impact  Qualcomm Graphics  and  Arm Mali GPU Driver  modules — CVE-2021-1905  (CVSS score: 8.4) - A use-after-free flaw in Qualcomm's graphics component due to improper handling of memory mapping of multiple processes simultaneously. CVE-2021-1906  (CVSS score: 6.2) - A flaw concerning inadequate handling of address deregistration that could lead to new GPU address allocation failure. CVE-2021-28663  (CVSS score: NA) - A vulnerability in Arm Mali GPU kernel that could permit a non-privileged user to make improper operations on GPU memory, leading

It's not a Patch Tuesday, but Microsoft is rolling out emergency out-of-band security patches for two new vulnerabilities, one of which is a critical Internet Explorer zero-day that cyber criminals are actively exploiting in the wild. Discovered by Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group and tracked as CVE-2019-1367, the IE zero-day is a remote code execution vulnerability in the way Microsoft's scripting engine handles objects in memory in Internet Explorer. The vulnerability is a memory-corruption issue that could allow a remote attacker to hijack a Windows PC just by convincing the user into viewing a specially crafted, booby-trapped web-page hosted online, when using Internet Explorer. "An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could take control of an affec

Microsoft was very upset with Google last week when its Threat Analysis Group publically disclosed a critical Windows kernel vulnerability (CVE-2016-7255) that had yet to be patched. The company criticized Google's move , claiming that the disclosure of the vulnerability, which was being exploited in the wild, put its customers "at potential risk." The vulnerability affects all Windows versions from Windows Vista through current versions of Windows 10, and Microsoft was set to issue a fix come this month's Patch Tuesday. So, as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday, Microsoft today patched the security flaw in Windows that was actively being exploited by hackers. According to Microsoft's security bulletin released today, any hacker who tricked victims into running a "specially-crafted application" could successfully exploit the system bug and gain the ability to "install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with fu

Adobe on Sunday rolled out patches to contain a critical security vulnerability impacting its Commerce and Magento Open Source products that it said is being actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2022-24086 , the shortcoming has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 on the vulnerability scoring system and has been characterized as an " improper input validation " issue that could be weaponized to achieve arbitrary code execution.  It's also a pre-authenticated flaw, meaning it could be exploited without requiring any credentials. Additionally, the California-headquartered company pointed out that the vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker with non-administrative privileges. The flaw affects Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source 2.4.3-p1 and earlier versions as well as 2.3.7-p2 and earlier versions. Adobe Commerce 2.3.3 and lower are not vulnerable. "Adobe is aware that CVE-2022-24086 has been exploited in the wild in very limited attacks targeting Ad

Apple on Friday released security updates for  iOS, iPadOS ,  macOS , and  Safari web browser  to address a pair of zero-day flaws that are being exploited in the wild. The two vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-28205  - A  use after free issue  in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. CVE-2023-28206  - An  out-of-bounds write issue  in IOSurfaceAccelerator that could enable an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple said it addressed CVE-2023-28205 with improved memory management and the second with better input validation, adding it's aware the bugs "may have been actively exploited." Credited with discovering and reporting the flaws are Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Donncha Ó Cearbhaill of Amnesty International's Security Lab. Details about the two vulnerabilities have been withheld in light of active exploitation and to prevent more

If you think that only CPU updates that address this year's major security flaws— Meltdown and Spectre —are the only ones you are advised to grab immediately, there are a handful of major security flaws that you should pay attention to. Microsoft has issued its first Patch Tuesday for 2018 to address 56 CVE-listed flaws, including a zero-day vulnerability in MS Office related that had been actively exploited by several threat groups in the wild. Sixteen of the security updates are listed as critical, 38 are rated important, one is rated moderate, and one is rated as low in severity. The updates address security flaws in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Edge, ChakraCore, ASP.NET, and the .NET Framework. The zero-day vulnerability ( CVE-2018-0802 ), described by Microsoft as a memory corruption flaw in Office, is already being targeted in the wild by several threat actor groups in the past few months. The vulnerability, discovered by several researchers from Chinese com

Ready to patch your Adobe Flash software now. Adobe has patched one after one two zero-day vulnerabilities in its Adobe Flash that are being actively exploited by the cyber criminals. PATCH FOR FIRST ZERO-DAY On Thursday, the company released an emergency update for one of the critical vulnerabilities in Flash Player. However, the flaw was not the one that security researcher Kafeine reported. Adobe focused on another zero-day, identified as CVE-2015-0310 , that was also exploited by Angler malicious toolkit. PATCH FOR SECOND ZERO-DAY Today, Adobe released an updated version of its Flash player software that patches a zero-day vulnerability , tracked as CVE-2015-0311, spotted by French security researcher Kafeine at the beginning of the week. The vulnerability is " being actively exploited in the wild via drive-by-download attacks against systems running Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows 8.1 and below, " Adobe said in a security advisory . The com

Ivanti is warning users to update their Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) mobile device management software (formerly MobileIron Core) to the latest version that fixes an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability. Dubbed  CVE-2023-35078 , the issue has been described as a remote unauthenticated API access vulnerability that impacts currently supported version 11.4 releases 11.10, 11.9, and 11.8 as well as older releases. It has the maximum severity rating of 10 on the CVSS scale. "An authentication bypass vulnerability in Ivanti EPMM allows unauthorized users to access restricted functionality or resources of the application without proper authentication," the company  said  in a terse advisory. "If exploited, this vulnerability enables an unauthorized, remote (internet-facing) actor to potentially access users' personally identifiable information and make limited changes to the server." The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said an

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned of active exploitation of a  high-severity Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability  by unidentified threat actors to gain initial access to government servers. "The vulnerability in ColdFusion (CVE-2023-26360) presents as an improper access control issue and exploitation of this CVE can result in arbitrary code execution," CISA  said , adding an unnamed federal agency was targeted between June and July 2023. The shortcoming affects ColdFusion 2018 (Update 15 and earlier versions) and ColdFusion 2021 (Update 5 and earlier versions). It has been addressed in versions Update 16 and Update 6, respectively, released on March 14, 2023. It was added by CISA to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog a day later, citing evidence of active exploitation in the wild. Adobe, in an advisory released around that time, said it's aware of the flaw being "exploited in the wild in very limited attacks."