Microsoft Warns of Cryptomining Malware Campaign Targeting Linux Servers
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2019-2725 | Unauthenticated Injection in Oracle WebLogic Web Services Enables RCE CVE-2019-2725 is an easily exploitable injection flaw (CWE-74) in the Web Services subcomponent of Oracle WebLogic Server within Oracle Fusion Middleware, publicly documented as affecting WebLogic 10.3.6.0, 12.1.3.0, 12.2.1.1 and 12.2.1.3. It is triggered when an unauthenticated remote attacker sends attacker-controlled XML over HTTP to the WebLogic Web Services async response endpoint (the /_async/AsyncResponseService servlet), which processes the input unsafely. Successful attacks give the attacker takeover of the affected WebLogic server (remote code execution); in the 2019 exploitation wave this was used to install cryptocurrency miners and deploy ransomware. Any organization running affected Oracle WebLogic Server versions is exposed, with the greatest risk where the async/Web Services endpoints are reachable, especially on internet-facing servers. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the CVE to its KEV catalog on 2022-01-10 with ransomware use known and requires applying vendor updates, the EPSS probability of exploitation is 100% (100th percentile), and no public PoC is catalogued. Do: Apply Oracle's updates per vendor instructions: this CVE was fixed by Oracle's April 2019 out-of-band WebLogic patch and is covered by subsequent Critical Patch Updates, so bring affected WebLogic 10.3.6.0/12.1.3.0/12.2.1.x servers to a patched level (CISA KEV requires this action). Until patched, restrict or remove the async response service deployments (wls9_async_response.war / wls_wsee_async_response.war, exposing the /_async/AsyncResponseService endpoint) and keep WebLogic ports off the internet. Also review logs for unsolicited POSTs to /_async/AsyncResponseService and for signs of dropped miners or ransomware payloads. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC |
| largetens of thousands of internet-exposed WebLogic servers (~30,000+ reported in 2019 internet scans), plus a much larger internal install base | |
| CVE-2022-26134 | Unauthenticated OGNL Injection RCE in Atlassian Confluence Server/Data Center Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center contain an unauthenticated remote code execution flaw caused by improper neutralization of expression-language (OGNL) input (CWE-917): an attacker with network access to the application can submit a crafted request that is evaluated as an expression and executed by the server. Successful exploitation lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker run arbitrary code with the privileges of the Confluence process, without any credentials. All organizations running self-managed Confluence Server or Data Center are affected, particularly instances exposed to the internet; Confluence Cloud is not listed among the affected products. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV on 2022-06-02 with ransomware use marked as known, and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile). CVSS has not yet been scored in this data, but the KEV listing and known ransomware use make unpatched, internet-facing instances a top-priority patching target. Do: Immediately upgrade to the patched Confluence release specified in Atlassian's 2022-06-02 security advisory, and until patched follow the CISA required action to block all internet traffic to and from affected instances. Because in-the-wild exploitation and ransomware use are confirmed, also hunt for compromise indicators on both patched and unpatched hosts, such as webshells, unexpected child processes of the Confluence service, and unusual outbound connections. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC ×2 |
| largetens of thousands of internet-exposed instances (public scan counts of roughly 60,000-90,000 Confluence Server/Data Center hosts around the June 2022… |
Full article481 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse
Ravie LakshmananJul 01, 2022
A cloud threat actor group tracked as 8220 has updated its malware toolset to breach Linux servers with the goal of installing crypto miners as part of a long-running campaign.
"The updates include the deployment of new versions of a crypto miner and an IRC bot," Microsoft Security Intelligence said in a series of tweets on Thursday. "The group has actively updated its techniques and payloads over the last year."
8220, active since early 2017, is a Chinese-speaking, Monero-mining threat actor so named for its preference to communicate with command-and-control (C2) servers over port 8220. It's also the developer of a tool called whatMiner, which has been co-opted by the Rocke cybercrime group in their attacks.
In July 2019, the Alibaba Cloud Security Team uncovered an extra shift in the adversary's tactics, noting its use of rootkits to hide the mining program. Two years later, the gang resurfaced with Tsunami IRC botnet variants and a custom "PwnRig" miner.
Now according to Microsoft, the most recent campaign striking i686 and x86_64 Linux systems has been observed weaponizing remote code execution exploits for the freshly disclosed Atlassian Confluence Server (CVE-2022-26134) and Oracle WebLogic (CVE-2019-2725) for initial access.
This step is succeeded by the retrieval of a malware loader from a remote server that's designed to drop the PwnRig miner and an IRC bot, but not before taking steps to evade detection by erasing log files and disabling cloud monitoring and security software.
Besides achieving persistence by means of a cron job, the "loader uses the IP port scanner tool 'masscan' to find other SSH servers in the network, and then uses the GoLang-based SSH brute force tool 'spirit' to propagate," Microsoft said.
The findings come as Akamai revealed that the Atlassian Confluence flaw is witnessing a steady 20,000 exploitation attempts per day that are launched from about 6,000 IPs, down from a peak of 100,000 in the immediate aftermath of the bug disclosure on June 2, 2022. 67% of the attacks are said to have originated from the U.S.
"In the lead, commerce accounts for 38% of the attack activity, followed by high tech and financial services, respectively," Akamai's Chen Doytshman said this week. "These top three verticals make up more than 75% of the activity."
The attacks range from vulnerability probes to determine if the target system is susceptible to injection of malware such as web shells and crypto miners, the cloud security company noted.
"What is particularly concerning is how much of a shift upward this attack type has garnered over the last several weeks," Doytshman added. "As we have seen with similar vulnerabilities, this CVE-2022-26134 will likely continue to be exploited for at least the next couple of years."
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2022/06/microsoft-warns-of-cryptomining-malware.html