Quebec shuts down thousands of sites as disclosure of the Log4Shell flaw
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-44228 | JNDI Injection Remote Code Execution in Apache Log4j2 (Log4Shell) 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. | 10.0 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC ×9 |
| masshundreds of millions of Java applications/devices, with hundreds of thousands of internet-exposed services |
Full article507 words · extracted from securityaffairs.com · click to collapse
Pierluigi Paganini
December 12, 2021
Quebec shut down nearly 4,000 of its sites in response to the discovery of the Log4Shell flaw in the Apache Log4j Java-based logging library.
Quebec shut down nearly 4,000 of its sites as a preventative measure after the disclosure of a PoC exploit for the Log4Shell flaw (CVE-2021-44228) in the Apache Log4j Java-based logging library.
On Friday, 10, 2021, Chinese security researcher p0rz9 publicly disclosed the PoC exploit code for this issue and revealed that the CVE-2021-44228 can only be exploited if the log4j2.formatMsgNoLookups option is set to false.
Log4j is an open-source library widely used by both enterprise apps and cloud services, including Apple iCloud and Steam.
A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit the CVE-2021-44228 to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system leading to a complete system takeover.
The vulnerability was discovered by researchers from Alibaba Cloud’s security team that notified the Apache Foundation on November 24. According to the experts, the vulnerability is easy to exploit and does not require special configuration, for this reason, it received a CVSSv3 score of 10/10. Researchers pointed out that Apache Struts2, Apache Solr, Apache Druid, Apache Flink are all affected by this vulnerability.
Open-source projects like ElasticSearch, Elastic Logstash, Redis, and the NSA’s Ghidra also use the library.
IT giants like Apple, Amazon, Twitter, Cloudflare, Steam, Tencent, Baidu, and NetEase are running servers potentially affected by the issue.
Security experts are already observing mass scanning activity for this vulnerability.
— Bad Packets by Okta (@bad_packets) December 10, 2021Mass scanning activity detected from multiple hosts checking for servers using Apache Log4j (Java logging library) vulnerable to remote code execution (https://t.co/GgksMUlf94).
Query our API for "tags=CVE-2021-44228" for source IP addresses and other IOCs. #threatintel
GreyNoise is detecting a sharply increasing number of hosts opportunistically exploiting Apache Log4J CVE-2021-44228. Exploitation occurring from ~100 distinct hosts, almost all of which are Tor exit nodes. Tags available to all users and customers now. https://t.co/JF3tUkpIrq pic.twitter.com/CTMi0IWQ5j
— GreyNoise (@GreyNoiseIO) December 10, 2021
Today Canadian Minister Responsible for Digital Transformation and Access to Information Eric Caire confirmed the decision of the government to shut down the sites that are being scanned for potentially malicious purposes resulting from the exploitation of the Log4Shell flaw.
The government closed 3,992 sites including the education and higher education ministries’ sites.
“On Friday the 10th, we received, like everyone else on the planet, a status report on a computer security flaw that affects many systems,” Caire explained in a news conference. “We need to scan all of our systems,” said Caire. “We’re kind of looking for a needle in a haystack.”
The Minister explained that it is a preventive measure and they are not aware of any security breach caused by the exploitation of the issue.
“It’s a decision preventive not reactive,” added Caire.
Some of the sites that have been tacked offline are back online.
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