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Microsoft: Critical GoAnywhere Bug Exploited in Medusa Ransomware Camp

criticalRansomware exploited in the wildimportance 60CVE-2025-10035CVE-2024-1709CVE-2023-48788

Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →

CVEVulnerabilityCVSSEPSSFlagsAffectedExposurePublished
CVE-2023-48788
Unauthenticated SQL Injection in Fortinet FortiClient EMS

Fortinet FortiClient EMS — the central management server for FortiClient endpoint deployments — contains a SQL injection flaw (CWE-89) in versions 7.0.1 through 7.0.10 and 7.2.0 through 7.2.2. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) shows it can be triggered remotely with no credentials and no user interaction: an unauthenticated attacker sends specially crafted packets to the vulnerable management server and can execute unauthorized code or commands. Successful exploitation effectively yields remote code execution on the EMS server and access to its database, enabling follow-on actions such as credential theft, abuse of endpoint management functions, and ransomware deployment. Any organization running the affected EMS versions is exposed, especially where the management server is reachable from the internet. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the bug to the KEV catalog on 2024-03-25 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns a ~98.4% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile).

Do: Upgrade FortiClient EMS to the fixed releases per Fortinet's advisory for this CVE (7.2.3 and 7.0.11 or later, i.e., beyond the 7.2.2 and 7.0.10 affected ranges); the CISA KEV required action is to apply vendor mitigations or discontinue use if mitigations are unavailable. Until patched, limit exposure of the EMS web interface to untrusted networks and hunt for signs of compromise — anomalous requests to the management console, unexpected database or admin activity, and follow-on ransomware behavior — since exploitation with known ransomware use is confirmed.

9.898% KEV ransomware
  • fortinet FortiClient Enterprise Management Server (EMS) 7.2.0 through 7.2.2 and 7.0.1 through 7.0.10
largetens of thousands of EMS deployments worldwide, with a smaller subset (likely thousands) internet-exposed
CVE-2024-1709
Authentication Bypass in ConnectWise ScreenConnect Creates Rogue Admin Accounts

ConnectWise ScreenConnect (ConnectWise Control), a widely used remote-access and remote-monitoring tool, contains an authentication bypass (CWE-288) in its management interface. An attacker needs only network access to the management interface to trigger the flaw, with no valid credentials or user interaction required. A successful attacker gains administrative control of the ScreenConnect server by creating a new administrator-level account, providing a foothold that has already been used in ransomware campaigns against downstream managed environments. Any organization running ConnectWise ScreenConnect is affected, especially managed service providers and IT teams whose management interface is reachable from the internet; the source data specifies affected products but no version ranges. Exploitation is confirmed and urgent: CISA added the flaw to the KEV on 2024-02-22 with known ransomware use, EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days, and ConnectWise warned that no patch was available at the time of disclosure.

Do: Follow ConnectWise's instructions immediately: no patch existed at disclosure, so apply the vendor's mitigations or, per the CISA KEV required action, restrict internet exposure of the management interface or discontinue use until mitigations are available, then upgrade to the vendor's patched release as soon as it ships. Audit ScreenConnect servers for unexpectedly created administrator-level accounts and unusual remote sessions, which are the attack's artifacts. Prioritize any instance whose management interface is reachable from the internet, given confirmed in-the-wild exploitation and known ransomware use.

10.0100% KEV ransomware PoC ×3
  • ConnectWise ScreenConnect
masstens of thousands of internet-exposed ScreenConnect servers (on the order of 10,000-30,000 instances in public internet scans at disclosure), managing millions…
CVE-2025-10035
Deserialization Flaw in Fortra GoAnywhere MFT License Servlet Enables RCE

CVE-2025-10035 is a critical (CVSS 9.8) deserialization-of-untrusted-data flaw (CWE-502) in the License Servlet of Fortra GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT). It is triggered when the servlet processes a license response carrying a validly forged signature, causing it to deserialize an arbitrary attacker-controlled object; the CVSS vector indicates the attack is network-based and requires no privileges or user interaction. Successful exploitation can lead to command injection (CWE-77), effectively giving an attacker command execution on the MFT server and access to the files and credentials that flow through it. Any organization running GoAnywhere MFT, which is commonly deployed as a central file-transfer hub, is affected, although specific affected/fixed version ranges are not provided in the available data. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV catalog on 2025-09-29 with known ransomware use, Microsoft attributes attacks to the Storm-1175 ransomware affiliate (Medusa, now reportedly replaced by StormEncryptor), and EPSS assigns a 99.8% probability of exploitation within 30 days.

Do: Apply mitigations or patches per Fortra's vendor instructions immediately, as this is a KEV entry carrying BOD 22-01 requirements for federal agencies (patch or discontinue use if mitigations are unavailable). Because a ransomware affiliate (Storm-1175, using Medusa/StormEncryptor) is actively exploiting it, hunt for compromise: review License Servlet traffic and logs for forged license responses, check for unexpected processes or new accounts, and look for signs of lateral movement. Until patched, restrict or remove internet exposure of GoAnywhere MFT admin and license interfaces.

9.8100% KEV ransomware
  • Fortra GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT)
moderatelow thousands of internet-exposed GoAnywhere MFT instances (estimate)
Full article482 words · extracted from infosecurity-magazine.com · click to collapse

A vulnerability in Fortra’s GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) tool with a CVSS score of 10.0 is being actively exploited in ransomware attacks, Microsoft has warned.

The tech giant published a blog post yesterday to urge customers to patch CVE-2025-10035: a critical deserialization flaw in GoAnywhere MFT’s License Servlet Admin Console.

“It enables an attacker to bypass signature verification by crafting a forged license response signature, which then allows the deserialization of arbitrary, attacker-controlled objects,” Microsoft explained.

“Successful exploitation could result in command injection and potential RCE [remote code execution] on the affected system. Public reports indicate that exploitation does not require authentication if the attacker can craft or intercept valid license responses, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for internet-exposed instances.”

Following exploitation, threat actors can perform system and user discovery, maintain long-term access and deploy other tools for lateral movement and malware, it added.

Read more on GoAnywhere: Exploit Code Released for Critical Fortra GoAnywhere Bug

Although patched by developer Fortra on September 18, the vulnerability was originally exploited as a zero day a week earlier (September 11) by threat group Storm-1175.

Following initial access, the group launched binaries from legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools SimpleHelp and MeshAgent, used tools like netscan for network discovery and moved laterally using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection client (“mstsc.exe”).

“For command-and-control (C2), the threat actor utilized RMM tools to establish their infrastructure and even set up a Cloudflare tunnel for secure C2 communication,” the report continued.

“During the exfiltration stage, the deployment and execution of Rclone was observed in at least one victim environment. Ultimately, in one compromised environment, the successful deployment of Medusa ransomware was observed.”

According to the Shadowserver Foundation, there are 513 GoAnywhere instances currently exposed, most of which (363) are located in North America.

Medusa Strikes Again

First identified in 2021, Medusa has snared over 300 global victims in critical infrastructure sectors, according to a joint advisory from March published by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

It claimed over 40 victims in the first two months of 2025 alone, including a confirmed attack on a US healthcare organization.

The affiliates using the ransomware-as-a-service variant usually achieve initial access either through phishing campaigns or by exploiting unpatched software vulnerabilities. In previous campaigns, they’ve used a ScreenConnect authentication bypass (CVE-2024-1709) and Fortinet EMS SQL injection flaw (CVE-2023-48788).

Microsoft urged GoAnywhere customers to:

  • Upgrade to the latest version of the software in line with Fortra’s recommendations
  • Use an enterprise attack surface management product to discover unpatched systems on the network perimeter
  • Check the perimeter firewall and proxy to ensure servers are not allowed to access the internet for arbitrary connections, like browsing and downloads
  • Run endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools in block mode to remediate malicious artifacts detected post-breach
  • Turn on block mode in corporate anti-virus products

Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/microsoft-critical-goanywhere/