Network Security Trends: November 2021 to January 2022

Movable Type 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type 7 Series), Movable Type 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type 6 Series), Movable Type Advanced 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 7 Series), Movable Type Advanced 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 6 Series), Movable Type Premium 1.46 and earlier, and Movable Type Premium Advanced 1.46 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via unspecified vectors. Note that all versions of Movable Type 4.0 or later including unsupported (End-of-Life, EOL) versions are also affected by this vulnerability.

The vSphere Web Client (FLEX/Flash) contains an unauthorized arbitrary file read vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to gain access to sensitive information.

Applications using both `spring-cloud-netflix-hystrix-dashboard` and `spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf` expose a way to execute code submitted within the request URI path during the resolution of view templates. When a request is made at `/hystrix/monitor;[user-provided data]`, the path elements following `hystrix/monitor` are being evaluated as SpringEL expressions, which can lead to code execution.

GitLab CE/EE versions from 11.9 onward fail to properly validate image files before passing them to the bundled ExifTool file parser, enabling command/code injection (CWE-94). A remote, unauthenticated attacker triggers it by getting the server to parse a specially crafted image (e.g., through file-upload features), with no credentials or user interaction required. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary command execution on the GitLab server, exposing source code, credentials, CI/CD data, and the wider network (CVSS 10.0, scope-changed). All self-managed GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition deployments on affected versions are exposed. The flaw is actively exploited in the wild: it is on CISA's KEV with known ransomware use, public PoCs exist, and 2021 campaigns used it for ransomware, cryptojacking, and access brokering against GitLab servers.

Do: Upgrade immediately to the patched releases - 13.10.3 or later, or the corresponding 13.9.6/13.8.6/13.7.9 backports - per vendor instructions, as required for KEV entries. Until patched, restrict network access to internet-facing GitLab instances and verify the bundled ExifTool is current. Hunt for signs of compromise (suspicious processes or cron jobs, cryptominers, webshells, new SSH keys, unexpected outbound connections), given documented ransomware and cryptojacking abuse.

The WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) WordPress plugin before 4.8 does not properly sanitise and escape the refUrl in the refDetails AJAX action, available to any authenticated user, which could allow users with a role as low as subscriber to perform SQL injection attacks

The Modern Events Calendar Lite WordPress plugin before 6.1.5 does not sanitise and escape the time parameter before using it in a SQL statement in the mec_load_single_page AJAX action, available to unauthenticated users, leading to an unauthenticated SQL injection issue

In the Druid ingestion system, the InputSource is used for reading data from a certain data source. However, the HTTP InputSource allows authenticated users to read data from other sources than intended, such as the local file system, with the privileges of the Druid server process. This is not an elevation of privilege when users access Druid directly, since Druid also provides the Local InputSource, which allows the same level of access. But it is problematic when users interact with Druid indirectly through an application that allows users to specify the HTTP InputSource, but not the Local InputSource. In this case, users could bypass the application-level restriction by passing a file URL to the HTTP InputSource. This issue was previously mentioned as being fixed in 0.21.0 as per CVE-2021-26920 but was not fixed in 0.21.0 or 0.21.1.

CVE-2021-38647 is an unauthenticated remote code execution flaw (CWE-1390, missing authentication) in Microsoft's Open Management Infrastructure (OMI), the open-source Linux management agent Microsoft bundles into Azure VM management extensions and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) agents. When OMI is deployed through these extensions (for example the Log Analytics/OMS agent, Azure Monitor, or Azure Automation), its root-privileged server component listens for management traffic on the network (by default ports 5985/5986), and an attacker who can reach that port can send specially crafted, unauthenticated management requests that execute commands as root. Successful exploitation gives an attacker full root-level control of the affected Linux VM, turning network reachability into complete host compromise and a foothold for lateral movement. Any Azure Linux VM with an OMI-based management extension, plus standalone OMI or SCOM-agent deployments on Linux, is affected; CISA added the bug to the KEV on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, so exploitation is confirmed in the wild even though no public proof-of-concept is catalogued, and EPSS estimates a ~99.9% near-term exploitation probability.

Do: Upgrade OMI to version 1.6.8-1 or later on all Linux VMs, including updating the bundled OMI inside Azure management extensions (Log Analytics/OMS agent, Azure Monitor, Azure Automation) and applying patched SCOM agent builds. Restrict network access to OMI's listener ports (5985/5986) with NSGs or host firewalls and check whether omiserver runs as root while binding beyond localhost. Because the flaw is in CISA KEV with known ransomware use, prioritize patching hosts whose OMI listener is reachable from untrusted networks and hunt for unexplained root-level activity.

Grafana is an open-source platform for monitoring and observability. In affected versions if an attacker is able to convince a victim to visit a URL referencing a vulnerable page, arbitrary JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser. The user visiting the malicious link must be unauthenticated and the link must be for a page that contains the login button in the menu bar. The url has to be crafted to exploit AngularJS rendering and contain the interpolation binding for AngularJS expressions. AngularJS uses double curly braces for interpolation binding: {{ }} ex: {{constructor.constructor(‘alert(1)’)()}}. When the user follows the link and the page renders, the login button will contain the original link with a query parameter to force a redirect to the login page. The URL is not validated and the AngularJS rendering engine will execute the JavaScript expression contained in the URL. Users are advised to upgrade as soon as possible. If for some reason you cannot upgrade, you can use a reverse proxy or similar to block access to block the literal string {{ in the path.

Metabase, an open source data analytics and business intelligence platform, does not validate URLs supplied to its custom GeoJSON map feature, resulting in a local file inclusion flaw (CWE-22/CWE-200). A remote, unauthenticated attacker can abuse the GeoJSON API to read arbitrary files on the Metabase server, including environment variables that frequently contain database credentials and API keys. Any organization running an affected Metabase release with the application reachable by attackers is exposed; the CVSS vector (AV:N/PR:N, C:H) reflects unauthenticated network exploitation with high confidentiality impact. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw carries a 97.2% EPSS score (100th percentile) and was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-11-12, though no public proof-of-concept is catalogued in the available data.

Do: Upgrade Metabase to 0.40.5 (open source) or 1.40.5 (enterprise) or any later release. If upgrading immediately is not possible, add URL-validation rules on your reverse proxy, load balancer, or WAF to filter requests to the GeoJSON API. Audit environment variables on Metabase hosts for sensitive secrets and review access logs for unexpected GeoJSON API requests, rotating any exposed credentials as a precaution.

Microsoft Exchange Server Spoofing Vulnerability

ResourceSpace before 9.6 rev 18290 is affected by a reflected Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in plugins/wordpress_sso/pages/index.php via the wordpress_user parameter. If an attacker is able to persuade a victim to visit a crafted URL, malicious JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser.

Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) 7.5 Initial Release through 8.2 Update-7 contains an insecure deserialization flaw (CWE-502) that allows unauthenticated remote command execution on the server. An attacker triggers it simply by sending crafted serialized input to an affected Sitecore instance over the network; no authentication, special configuration, or user interaction is required (CVSS 9.8). Successful exploitation yields arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the web application, giving attackers full control of the CMS server to steal data, deploy malware, or pivot into the corporate network. Any organization running the affected Sitecore XP releases is exposed, particularly content management or delivery servers reachable from the internet. The flaw is actively exploited: it was added to CISA's KEV on 2022-03-25 with known ransomware use, EPSS puts the 30-day exploitation probability at 97.9%, and contemporaneous reporting describes access brokers such as 'Gold Melody' selling compromised network access to ransomware operators.

Do: Apply updates per vendor instructions: upgrade to a fixed release or install the hotfix Sitecore provided for each affected 7.5-8.2 version, as required by CISA's KEV entry. Prioritize internet-facing Sitecore servers, review logs for signs of exploitation, and restrict network access to Sitecore endpoints as an interim measure, since ransomware operators are known to exploit this flaw.

Barcode is a GLPI plugin for printing barcodes and QR codes. GLPI instances version 2.x prior to version 2.6.1 with the barcode plugin installed are vulnerable to a path traversal vulnerability. This issue was patched in version 2.6.1. As a workaround, delete the `front/send.php` file.

Apache Log4j2, an extremely widely used Java logging library, fails to protect its JNDI lookup feature against attacker-controlled JNDI-related endpoints (CWE-20, CWE-502), so crafted text processed by the logger causes the Java runtime to fetch and load attacker-supplied objects, leading to remote code execution. The flaw is triggered whenever attacker-controlled input reaches the logging API and is parsed for JNDI lookups, a pattern common in web servers and enterprise Java applications that log user-supplied fields such as headers or form values. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution under the privileges of the affected application, giving attackers a foothold for lateral movement, data theft, and ransomware deployment. Any Java application or product that ships or bundles an affected Apache Log4j2 release is exposed, making this one of the most broadly deployed vulnerabilities ever disclosed. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-12-10 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days.

Do: Inventory all Java applications and dependencies for Apache Log4j2 and apply the vendor's patched updates, or remove affected assets from the network, as required by CISA's KEV catalog. Where updates are not yet available, use the temporary mitigations in CISA's ED-22-02 recommended-mitigation guidance, such as disabling message lookups, only until patches are applied. Prioritize internet-facing and business-critical systems and hunt for exploitation activity given known ransomware use.

CVE-2021-45046 is a remote code execution and information disclosure flaw in Apache Log4j2 (CWE-917) that resulted from an incomplete fix to CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell), leaving the Thread Context Lookup Pattern vulnerable in certain non-default configurations. It is triggered when an application logs attacker-controlled data using layouts or patterns that perform Thread Context (MDC) lookups, allowing crafted lookup expressions to be evaluated against untrusted input. A successful attacker can achieve remote code execution, or potentially information disclosure, on the affected service. Any deployment of Apache Log4j2 that relies on the affected non-default lookup configurations is exposed, which given Log4j2's ubiquity in Java applications and embedded products means a very large installed base. Exploitation is confirmed: the flaw is in CISA KEV (added 2023-05-01) with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days.

Do: Upgrade Log4j2 to 2.17.0 or later per vendor instructions (or 2.12.3/2.3.1 for the legacy 2.12/2.3 branches), since the 2.16.0 fix was itself incomplete in some non-default configurations. Where upgrading is not immediately possible, remove the JndiLookup class from the Log4j2 jar or disable lookup processing, and audit applications and dependencies that bundle Log4j2 while following the CISA KEV required action to apply vendor updates.