Cloudflare Warns of India-Linked Hackers Targeting South and East Asian Entities
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-38831 | Code Execution in RARLAB WinRAR via Crafted ZIP File/Folder Name Confusion RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 mishandles ZIP archives that contain a benign file (such as a JPG) alongside a folder with the same name, causing the folder's contents - which can include malicious executable files - to be processed when the user merely attempts to view the benign file. By sending a crafted ZIP archive, an attacker gains arbitrary code execution on the victim's machine with the user's privileges. Because the flaw is local (AV:L) and requires user interaction, risk is limited to Windows systems running an unpatched copy of WinRAR, while machines without the tool are unaffected. The bug was actively exploited in the wild from April through October 2023, including by government-backed actors (APT28), SideCopy attacks on Indian government entities, ransomware operations, and trading-account theft campaigns, and it was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-08-24. Do: Upgrade all Windows systems running WinRAR to version 6.23 or later, which fixes this flaw; if patching is not immediately possible, treat ZIP files from untrusted sources with caution and check archives for duplicate file/folder names before opening. Given KEV listing with known ransomware use and public proof-of-concept exploits, hunt for compromise by reviewing whether unexpected executables or scripts ran when ZIP archives were opened, and apply vendor mitigations per CISA's required action or discontinue use if mitigations are unavailable. | 7.8 | 98% | KEV ransomware PoC ×4 |
| masshundreds of millions of users/installations worldwide (WinRAR is one of the most widely installed Windows archive utilities) |
Indicators of compromiseauto-extracted · verify before use · export allAll →
| Type | Indicator | Context |
|---|---|---|
| domain | aljazeerak.online | ng requests to the actual C2 domain used by the adversary ("aljazeerak[.]online"). Cloudflare said it "observed concerted efforts by Slop |
Full article598 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse
Ravie LakshmananSep 26, 2024Cloud Security / Cyber Espionage
An advanced threat actor with an India nexus has been observed using multiple cloud service providers to facilitate credential harvesting, malware delivery, and command-and-control (C2).
Web infrastructure and security company Cloudflare is tracking the activity under the name SloppyLemming, which is also called Outrider Tiger and Fishing Elephant.
"Between late 2022 to present, SloppyLemming has routinely used Cloudflare Workers, likely as part of a broad espionage campaign targeting South and East Asian countries," Cloudflare said in an analysis.
SloppyLemming is assessed to be active since at least July 2021, with prior campaigns leveraging malware such as Ares RAT and WarHawk, the latter of which is also linked to a known hacking crew called SideWinder. The use of Ares RAT, on the other hand, has been attributed to SideCopy, a threat actor likely of Pakistani origin.
Targets of the SloppyLemming's activity span government, law enforcement, energy, education, telecommunications, and technology entities located in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Indonesia.
The attack chains involve sending spear-phishing emails to targets that aim to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link by inducing a false sense of urgency, claiming that they need to complete a mandatory process within the next 24 hours.
Clicking on the URL takes the victim to a credential harvesting page, which then serves as a mechanism for the threat actor to gain unauthorized access to targeted email accounts within organizations that are of interest.
"The actor uses a custom-built tool named CloudPhish to create a malicious Cloudflare Worker to handle the credential logging logic and exfiltration of victim credentials to the threat actor," the company said.
Some of the attacks undertaken by SloppyLemming have leveraged similar techniques to capture Google OAuth tokens, as well as employ booby-trapped RAR archives ("CamScanner 06-10-2024 15.29.rar") that likely exploit a WinRAR flaw (CVE-2023-38831) to achieve remote code execution.
Present within the RAR file is an executable that, besides displaying the decoy document, stealthily loads "CRYPTSP.dll," which serves as a downloader to retrieve a remote access trojan hosted on Dropbox.
It's worth mentioning here that cybersecurity company SEQRITE detailed an analogous campaign undertaken by the SideCopy actors last year targeting Indian government and defense sectors to distribute the Ares RAT using ZIP archives named "DocScanner_AUG_2023.zip" and "DocScanner-Oct.zip" that are engineered to trigger the same vulnerability.
A third infection sequence employed by SloppyLemming entails using spear-phishing lures to lead prospective targets to a phony website that impersonates the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) in Pakistan, after which they are redirected to another site that contains an internet shortcut (URL) file.
The URL file comes embedded with code to download another file, an executable named PITB-JR5124.exe, from the same server. The binary is a legitimate file that's used to sideload a rogue DLL named profapi.dll that subsequently communicates with a Cloudflare Worker.
These Cloudflare Worker URLs, the company noted, act as an intermediary, relaying requests to the actual C2 domain used by the adversary ("aljazeerak[.]online").
Cloudflare said it "observed concerted efforts by SloppyLemming to target Pakistani police departments and other law enforcement organizations," adding "there are indications that the actor has targeted entities involved in the operation and maintenance of Pakistan's sole nuclear power facility."
Some of the other targets of credential harvesting activity encompass Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi government and military organizations, and to a lesser extent, Chinese energy and academic sector entities.
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2024/09/cloudflare-warns-of-india-linked.html