Unit 42 tied the xHunt campaign to a watering hole on a Kuwait government website used to passively harvest visitors' NTLM credential hashes.
Palo Alto Unit 42 identified a Kuwait government organization's webpage injected with hidden HTML referencing image paths on domains (microsofte-update.com, learn-service.com) tied to xHunt/Hisoka C2 infrastructure. When visitors loaded the page, Windows would attempt SMB/NetBIOS authentication to the remote share, allowing the operators to capture NTLM hashes that could be cracked or relayed. Related DNS redirect activity on xHunt infrastructure in 2019 pointed to additional credential-harvesting interest against Kuwaiti government email servers.
Unit 42 assesses Ryuk ransomware amid a CISA/FBI/HHS alert on threats to U.S. healthcare, including the UHS attack that disrupted hospital operations.
A joint CISA, FBI, and HHS alert on October 28, 2020 warned of an imminent threat to U.S. healthcare from operators deploying Trickbot and Ryuk ransomware. Universal Health Services reported a Ryuk attack that disrupted all U.S. UHS sites for weeks, with similar incidents at hospitals in Oregon and New York. Ryuk typically arrives after Trickbot or BazaLoader infections delivered via malicious email, and operators enumerate networks with PowerShell and WMI before encryption. The Trickbot Anchor_DNS module performs DNS tunneling for C2, using connectivity checks to benign domains like ipinfo.io and checkip.amazonaws.com.
Unit 42 issued a threat brief on Maze ransomware, noting an uptick across industries and exploitation of Pulse VPN and IE flaws for initial access.
Palo Alto Networks detected an uptick in Maze ransomware samples across finance, healthcare, government, and other sectors. Maze, a variant of ChaCha ransomware first seen in May 2019, is distributed via weaponized Word/Excel attachments and the Spelevo exploit kit leveraging CVE-2018-15982 and CVE-2018-4878, and has used CVE-2019-11510 (Pulse VPN) and CVE-2018-8174 (Internet Explorer). Operators establish a foothold, escalate privileges, move laterally, and exfiltrate files before encryption for extortion leverage.
A fake PoC for WinRAR RCE CVE-2023-40477 posted on GitHub actually deploys VenomRAT through a multi-step infection chain targeting researchers.
Four days after Zero Day Initiative publicly disclosed the WinRAR RCE vulnerability CVE-2023-40477 on August 17, 2023, an actor using the alias whalersplonk published a fake proof-of-concept on GitHub. The Python script actually repurposed public PoC code for GeoServer SQL injection CVE-2023-25157 and triggered an infection chain ending in VenomRAT. The README and an accompanying video lured users into running the script; the video drew over 100 plays. Unit 42 assesses the actor was opportunistic, targeting other miscreants adopting new vulnerabilities rather than researchers specifically.
Unit 42 reports Locky ransomware delivered through the Nuclear exploit kit using Flash exploits, adding a drive-by path to existing malspam distribution.
Unit 42 observed Locky ransomware being delivered by the Nuclear exploit kit in March 2016 via Flash exploits, following February reports of Neutrino EK distributing Locky. Infections follow a drive-by chain through a gate to the Nuclear EK, which either installs Locky directly or drops a downloader that retrieves it from another domain. Locky retains two distribution paths: malspam with malicious Office macros or JavaScript attachments and exploit kit traffic triggered by casual web browsing.
Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read in Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure VPN
Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure, an enterprise SSL VPN appliance, contains an arbitrary file read vulnerability (CWE-22, path traversal) that requires no authentication. An unauthenticated remote attacker with network access to the appliance over HTTPS can send a specially crafted URI containing traversal sequences to read arbitrary files from the device. The attacker gains access to sensitive appliance files, potentially including configuration or credential material useful for further compromise, and CISA records known ransomware use of this flaw. Any organization running Pulse Connect Secure, especially gateways exposed to the internet for remote access, is affected. Exploitation is established: CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, and no public PoC is known.
Use-After-Free RCE in Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161
CVE-2018-4878 is a use-after-free (CWE-416) in Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161, caused by a dangling pointer in the Primetime SDK's media-player handling of listener objects. An attacker triggers it by persuading a user to open attacker-controlled Flash content — typically a malicious SWF delivered via email, Office documents, or malvertising/exploit kits — because the CVSS vector (AV:L, UI:R) requires local user interaction. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running Flash. Anyone running a vulnerable Flash Player was exposed, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop/Server/Workstation users running Red Hat's packaged Flash plugin. The flaw was exploited as a zero-day in January–February 2018 (documented by McAfee and distributed alongside the Fallout exploit kit), and it remains in CISA's KEV with known ransomware use.
· adobe Flash Player all versions before 28.0.0.161 · redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop (flash-plugin) Flash Player component before 28.0.0.161 KEV ransomware PoC ×2mass
Use-After-Free in Adobe Flash Player Allows Arbitrary Code Execution
CVE-2018-15982 is a use-after-free flaw (CWE-416) in Adobe Flash Player versions 31.0.0.153 and earlier, and 31.0.0.108 and earlier, in which Flash frees memory that is subsequently reused, corrupting process memory. It is triggered when Flash processes crafted Flash content, most notably embedded in Microsoft Office documents, requiring a user to open or view the malicious content (CVSS attack vector is local with user interaction required). Successful exploitation gives the attacker arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user viewing the content. Affected users include anyone running the listed Flash Player versions, including the Flash Player Installer and the Adobe-supplied Flash plugin shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Server and Workstation. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-02-15) with known ransomware use, a public exploit is available on Exploit-DB, and EPSS assigns a top-percentile 89.1% probability of exploitation within 30 days.
· Adobe Flash Player 31.0.0.153 and earlier, and 31.0.0.108 and earlier · Adobe Flash Player Installer Same affected ranges as Flash Player (31.0.0.153 and earlier / 31.0.0.108 and earlier) KEV ransomware PoC mass
Out-of-Bounds Write RCE in Microsoft Windows VBScript Engine
CVE-2018-8174 is an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) in the Microsoft Windows VBScript engine, caused by the way it handles objects in memory. An attacker triggers it by convincing a user to visit a specially crafted website or open crafted content that invokes the VBScript engine (for example via Internet Explorer or a document preview), requiring user interaction. Successful exploitation yields remote code execution with the privileges of the logged-on user, enabling program installation, data theft and account takeover. All listed Windows client and server releases are affected: Windows 7, 8.1, RT 8.1, Windows 10 (1607-1803), and Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, 2012/2012 R2, 2016. Exploitation is in the wild: the flaw was fixed in the May 2018 Patch Tuesday, is listed in CISA KEV with known ransomware use, and public PoCs (0patch, ExploitDB 44741) and exploit kit usage have been documented; EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 88.5%.
· microsoft windows 10 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803 (pre-May 2018 security updates) · microsoft windows 7 all supported builds prior to the May 2018 security update KEV ransomware PoC ×2mass
GeoServer is an open source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data.
GeoServer is an open source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. GeoServer includes support for the OGC Filter expression language and the OGC Common Query Language (CQL) as part of the Web Feature Service (WFS) and Web Map Service (WMS) protocols. CQL is also supported through the Web Coverage Service (WCS) protocol for ImageMosaic coverages. Users are advised to upgrade to either version 2.21.4, or version 2.22.2 to resolve this issue. Users unable to upgrade should disable the PostGIS Datastore *encode functions* setting to mitigate…
RARLAB WinRAR Recovery Volume Improper Validation of Array Index Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.
RARLAB WinRAR Recovery Volume Improper Validation of Array Index Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of RARLAB WinRAR. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the processing of recovery volumes. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a memory access past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this…
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