CISA and FBI Warn of Global Threat from Ghost Ransomware

CVE-2009-3960 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Adobe BlazeDS, the Java-based remoting and messaging layer that ships with Adobe LiveCycle and is available with Adobe ColdFusion. An attacker can trigger the flaw by sending crafted requests to an application running an affected BlazeDS deployment, gaining access to information that should not be exposed. Successful exploitation can leak sensitive data and, as observed in the Cring ransomware campaign against unpatched ColdFusion servers, can serve as an initial foothold that leads to further compromise and ransomware deployment. Organizations running BlazeDS as part of LiveCycle or ColdFusion deployments are affected. The flaw has been exploited in the wild and was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-07, with ransomware use explicitly confirmed and a very high EPSS of 90%.

Do: Apply updates per vendor instructions as required by CISA, upgrading BlazeDS, LiveCycle, and ColdFusion to the patched releases specified in Adobe's advisory. Prioritize internet-facing ColdFusion and LiveCycle servers, verify BlazeDS-related endpoints are patched, and check for signs of compromise given known ransomware use. Until patched, restrict external access to BlazeDS/ColdFusion endpoints where feasible.

CVE-2010-2861 is a directory traversal flaw (CWE-22) in the administrator console of Adobe ColdFusion that allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the server. It is triggered by sending crafted path-traversal input to the ColdFusion Administrator web interface, letting the attacker walk outside the intended directory. By reading sensitive files such as the server's configuration and administrator credential files, an attacker can obtain ColdFusion admin credentials and frequently escalate to broader system access. Any organization running an affected Adobe ColdFusion release is exposed, especially servers with the CFIDE administrator interface reachable from the internet. The flaw is actively exploited: it is in CISA's KEV (added 2022-03-25) with known ransomware use (including by the Cring gang), and EPSS puts 30-day exploitation probability at 99.7%.

Do: Apply the ColdFusion updates per Adobe/vendor instructions as required by CISA, and if patching must wait, restrict or firewall access to the CFIDE administrator console (IP allowlisting or VPN only). Review web logs for path-traversal requests against the administrator console and check hosts for signs of ransomware or unauthorized changes, since exploitation is actively used for ransomware.

CVE-2018-13379 is a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) in the Fortinet FortiOS SSL VPN web portal that allows an unauthenticated attacker to download FortiOS system files via specially crafted HTTP resource requests. By traversing directories through crafted requests to the exposed web portal, the attacker can retrieve sensitive files, a technique publicly documented as yielding the SSL VPN session file containing usernames and passwords in plaintext. Any organization running the SSL VPN web portal on a FortiGate appliance is affected, and risk is highest where the portal is directly reachable from the internet. The flaw is confirmed in the wild: it was added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days. No public PoC is listed in the provided data, but credential theft tied to this bug has been widely reused by threat actors.

Do: Apply the patched FortiOS release per Fortinet's vendor advisory immediately, as this is a CISA KEV required action; if the fixed version is not known from this data, follow Fortinet's FG-IR-18-384 advisory for the correct upgrade path. Rotate SSL VPN credentials and review VPN access logs for path-traversal requests, since successful exploitation exposes plaintext session credentials, and restrict SSL VPN portal exposure to trusted sources where possible.

CVE-2021-31207 is a security feature bypass in Microsoft Exchange Server, classified as an unrestricted file-write issue (CWE-434) that lets an attacker bypass intended restrictions and write files of their choosing to the server. It is the final bug in the ProxyShell chain: chained with the autodiscover SSRF and PowerShell backend elevation flaws, it allows an unauthenticated attacker to reach the Exchange PowerShell API, write arbitrary files such as an ASPX webshell, and execute code with SYSTEM privileges. A successful attacker gains full control of the on-premises Exchange server, including mailbox access, stolen credentials, and a foothold for lateral movement; the bug has been used to deploy ransomware and keyloggers. On-premises deployments of Microsoft Exchange Server (2013, 2016, and 2019 per vendor advisories) are affected, while Exchange Online/cloud mailboxes are not. Exploitation is essentially certain and ongoing: the flaw is in CISA's KEV (added 2021-11-03) with known ransomware use, public ProxyShell PoC/exploit code is available, and EPSS puts the 30-day exploitation probability at 99.8%.

Do: Apply Microsoft's July 2021 security updates for Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019 (or any later security/cumulative update) per vendor instructions, and restrict untrusted access to Exchange's autodiscover and PowerShell endpoints. Hunt for ASPX webshells under the Exchange FrontEnd directories and review IIS logs for autodiscover.json requests chaining PowerShell, since many servers were compromised before patching. Given known ransomware use and KEV listing, treat any server that was unpatched or internet-exposed during the exploitation window as potentially compromised.

Microsoft Exchange Server contains a server-side request forgery (SSRF, CWE-918) in the Autodiscover service that unauthenticated remote attackers can reach over HTTP. This flaw is the first stage of the widely documented 'ProxyShell' chain, in which the SSRF is combined with privilege escalation and an arbitrary file write in the Exchange PowerShell backend to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution on the server. An attacker who successfully exploits it gains the ability to run code on the Exchange server, and ransomware operators (e.g., Cuba ransomware) leveraged this chain to deploy payloads. Organizations running on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server (2013, 2016, and 2019 per the vendor's advisories) are affected; hosted Exchange Online is a separately managed cloud service. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the flaw to the KEV catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile).

Do: Apply Microsoft's July 2021 (or later) Exchange Server security updates, which include the ProxyShell fixes, to all on-premises servers. If patching is delayed, restrict internet access to the Autodiscover/EWS frontend endpoints and consider the URL Rewrite mitigation Microsoft published for ProxyShell. Given the KEV listing and known ransomware use, treat internet-facing, unpatched Exchange servers as potentially compromised and hunt for webshells, unusual Exchange processes, and suspicious account or mailbox activity.