APT41 Hackers Use ShadowPad, Cobalt Strike in Taiwanese Institute Cyber Attack
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2018-0824 | Deserialization of Untrusted Data RCE in Microsoft COM for Windows CVE-2018-0824 is a deserialization of untrusted data flaw (CWE-502) in Microsoft COM for Windows: the COM subsystem fails to properly handle serialized objects, allowing a remote attacker to achieve remote code execution (CVSS 3.1: 8.8, network vector). It is triggered when the affected Windows system deserializes attacker-controlled serialized data; the CVSS vector indicates user interaction is required in typical attack scenarios. Successful exploitation yields code execution with the privileges of the user or service that handles the serialized object, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the host. The affected footprint is extremely broad, spanning Windows 7, 8.1 and RT 8.1, Windows 10 (versions 1507 through 1803), and Windows Server 2008 through 2016, including Server versions 1709 and 1803. The flaw is confirmed exploited in the wild — CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-08-05 — and a public PoC exists (Exploit-DB 44906), with EPSS estimating a ~73.2% probability of exploitation within 30 days. Do: Apply Microsoft's COM security updates to every in-scope Windows build, prioritizing internet-facing hosts and legacy systems (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, Windows Server 2012) that commonly remain unpatched; because the flaw is on CISA's KEV list, patching is required for federal agencies under BOD 22-01. Verify patch installation via inventory rather than OS build alone, and where patching is impossible (end-of-support systems), isolate or restrict those hosts' network exposure. Ransomware use is not yet confirmed by CISA, but the high EPSS score and KEV listing warrant urgent remediation. | 8.8 | 73% | KEV PoC |
| masshundreds of millions of Windows devices run the affected versions (Windows 7–10 and Server 2008–2016); residual unpatched exposure plausibly in the millions |
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Ravie LakshmananAug 02, 2024Cyber Espionage / Malware
A Taiwanese government-affiliated research institute that specializes in computing and associated technologies was breached by nation-state threat actors with ties to China, according to new findings from Cisco Talos.
The unnamed organization was targeted as early as mid-July 2023 to deliver a variety of backdoors and post-compromise tools like ShadowPad and Cobalt Strike. It has been attributed with medium confidence to a prolific hacking group tracked as APT41.
"The ShadowPad malware used in the current campaign exploited an outdated vulnerable version of Microsoft Office IME binary as a loader to load the customized second-stage loader for launching the payload," security researchers Joey Chen, Ashley Shen, and Vitor Ventura said.
"The threat actor compromised three hosts in the targeted environment and was able to exfiltrate some documents from the network."
Cisco Talos said it discovered the activity in August 2023 after detecting what it described were "abnormal PowerShell commands" that connected to an IP address to download and execute PowerShell scripts within the compromised environment.
The exact initial access vector used in the attack is not known, although it involved the use of a web shell to maintain persistent access and drop additional payloads like ShadowPad and Cobalt Strike, with the latter delivered by means a Go-based Cobalt Strike loader named CS-Avoid-Killing.
"The Cobalt Strike malware had been developed using an anti-AV loader to bypass AV detection and avoid the security product quarantine," the researchers said.
Alternately, the threat actor was observed running PowerShell commands to launch scripts responsible for running ShadowPad in memory and fetch Cobalt Strike malware from a compromised command-and-control (C2) server. The DLL-based ShadowPad loader, also called ScatterBee, is executed via DLL side-loading.
Some of the other steps carried out as part of the intrusion comprised the use of Mimikatz to extract passwords and the execution of several commands to gather information on user accounts, directory structure, and network configurations.
"APT41 created a tailored loader to inject a proof-of-concept for CVE-2018-0824 directly into memory, utilizing a remote code execution vulnerability to achieve local privilege escalation," Talos said, noting the final payload, UnmarshalPwn, is unleashed after passing through three different stages.
The cybersecurity outfit also pointed out the adversary's attempts to avoid detection by halting its own activity upon detecting other users on the system. "Once the backdoors are deployed the malicious actor will delete the web shell and guest account that allowed the initial access," the researchers said.
The disclosure comes as Germany revealed earlier this week that Chinese state actors were behind a 2021 cyber attack on the country's national mapping agency, the Federal Office of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), for espionage purposes.
Responding to the allegations, China's embassy in Berlin said the accusation is unfounded and called on Germany "to stop the practice of using cybersecurity issues to smear China politically and in the media."
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