Alert: F5 Warns of Active Attacks Exploiting BIG
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-46747 +1 in the same advisory: …46748 | F5 BIG-IP TMUI Authentication Bypass Enables Unauthenticated RCE CVE-2023-46747 is a critical authentication bypass (CVSS 9.8) in the F5 BIG-IP Configuration Utility (TMUI) affecting most BIG-IP modules, including LTM, APM, DNS, AWAF, AFM, ASM, and SSL Orchestrator. By sending undisclosed, specially crafted requests to the TMUI, an attacker with network access to the BIG-IP management port and/or self IP addresses bypasses authentication and can execute arbitrary system commands on the system. No privileges or user interaction are required, and successful exploitation effectively yields full control of the affected BIG-IP deployment. Any organization running vulnerable BIG-IP software is exposed, particularly enterprises, service providers, and government agencies whose management interface or self IPs are reachable. The flaw is being actively exploited: it was added to CISA KEV on 2023-10-31 with known ransomware use, public PoC code exists, and reporting links it to Chinese nation-state actors targeting defense and government networks. Do: Upgrade all affected BIG-IP systems to the fixed releases identified in F5 advisory K13763 (17.1.0.1, 16.1.4, 15.1.9, 14.1.5.5, or 13.1.5.1 depending on the train, or later); the CISA KEV listing makes remediation mandatory for federal agencies. As an interim mitigation, restrict network access to the TMUI management port and self IP addresses and apply F5's documented mitigation guidance. Given active nation-state and ransomware exploitation, also audit appliances for indicators of compromise such as unexpected accounts, scheduled tasks, and configuration changes. | 9.8 group max | 97% | KEV ransomware PoC ×2 |
| largetens of thousands of internet-exposed BIG-IP systems (10k-100k), with a total enterprise installed base plausibly in the hundreds of thousands |
Indicators of compromiseauto-extracted · verify before use · export allAll →
| Type | Indicator | Context |
|---|---|---|
| ipv4 | 13.1.5.1 | Hotfix-BIGIP-14.1.5.6.0.10.6-ENG) 13.1.0 - 13.1.5 (Fixed in 13.1.5.1 + Hotfix-BIGIP-13.1.5.1.0.20.2-ENG) Now the company is aler |
| ipv4 | 14.1.5.6 | otfix-BIGIP-15.1.10.2.0.44.2-ENG) 14.1.0 - 14.1.5 (Fixed in 14.1.5.6 + Hotfix-BIGIP-14.1.5.6.0.10.6-ENG) 13.1.0 - 13.1.5 (Fixed |
| ipv4 | 15.1.10.2 | otfix-BIGIP-16.1.4.1.0.50.5-ENG) 15.1.0 - 15.1.10 (Fixed in 15.1.10.2 + Hotfix-BIGIP-15.1.10.2.0.44.2-ENG) 14.1.0 - 14.1.5 (Fixed |
| ipv4 | 16.1.4.1 | Hotfix-BIGIP-17.1.0.3.0.75.4-ENG) 16.1.0 - 16.1.4 (Fixed in 16.1.4.1 + Hotfix-BIGIP-16.1.4.1.0.50.5-ENG) 15.1.0 - 15.1.10 (Fixed |
| ipv4 | 17.1.0.3 | s the following versions of the software - 17.1.0 (Fixed in 17.1.0.3 + Hotfix-BIGIP-17.1.0.3.0.75.4-ENG) 16.1.0 - 16.1.4 (Fixed |
Full article365 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse
Ravie LakshmananNov 01, 2023Vulnerability / Cyber Attack
F5 is warning of active abuse of a critical security flaw in BIG-IP less than a week after its public disclosure, resulting in the execution of arbitrary system commands as part of an exploit chain.
Tracked as CVE-2023-46747 (CVSS score: 9.8), the vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to the BIG-IP system through the management port to achieve code execution. A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit has since been made available by ProjectDiscovery.
It impacts the following versions of the software -
- 17.1.0 (Fixed in 17.1.0.3 + Hotfix-BIGIP-17.1.0.3.0.75.4-ENG)
- 16.1.0 - 16.1.4 (Fixed in 16.1.4.1 + Hotfix-BIGIP-16.1.4.1.0.50.5-ENG)
- 15.1.0 - 15.1.10 (Fixed in 15.1.10.2 + Hotfix-BIGIP-15.1.10.2.0.44.2-ENG)
- 14.1.0 - 14.1.5 (Fixed in 14.1.5.6 + Hotfix-BIGIP-14.1.5.6.0.10.6-ENG)
- 13.1.0 - 13.1.5 (Fixed in 13.1.5.1 + Hotfix-BIGIP-13.1.5.1.0.20.2-ENG)
Now the company is alerting that it has "observed threat actors using this vulnerability to exploit CVE-2023-46748," which refers to an authenticated SQL injection vulnerability in the BIG-IP Configuration utility.
"This vulnerability may allow an authenticated attacker with network access to the Configuration utility through the BIG-IP management port and/or self IP addresses to execute arbitrary system commands," F5 noted in an advisory for CVE-2023-46748 (CVSS score: 8.8).
In other words, bad actors are chaining the two flaws to run arbitrary system commands. To check for indicators of compromise (IoCs) associated with the SQL injection flaw, users are recommended to check the /var/log/tomcat/catalina.out file for suspicious entries like below -
{...}
java.sql.SQLException: Column not found: 0.
{...)
sh: no job control in this shell
sh-4.2$ <EXECUTED SHELL COMMAND>
sh-4.2$ exit.
The Shadowserver Foundation, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said it has been "seeing F5 BIG-IP CVE-2023-46747 attempts in our honeypot sensors" since October 30, 2023, making it imperative that users move quickly to apply the fixes.
The development has also promoted the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to add the two flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. Federal agencies are mandated to apply the vendor-provided patches by November 21, 2023.
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2023/11/alert-f5-warns-of-active-attacks.html