Feds Warn of AndroxGh0st Botnet Targeting AWS, Azure, and Office 365 Credentials
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-9841 | Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution in PHPUnit eval-stdin.php PHPUnit ships a utility script (eval-stdin.php under /vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Util/PHP/) that reads HTTP POST data and evaluates it as PHP code with no authentication. The flaw is triggered when a site's /vendor folder is web-accessible and an attacker sends a POST request whose body begins with '<?php ' directly to that URI. Doing so lets the attacker execute arbitrary PHP code on the server under the web server account, giving unauthenticated remote code execution (CWE-94 code injection). Anyone running a PHP application installed with Composer, where PHPUnit is present in the vendor tree and that directory is reachable over HTTP, is affected. The flaw is under active exploitation: CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-02-15 and its EPSS probability of exploitation is 100% (top percentile). Do: Apply the CISA KEV required action by updating PHPUnit per vendor instructions, which in practice means updating the CMS/framework or running a Composer update that pulls a patched PHPUnit release. Until patched, block web access to the /vendor directory (e.g., deny /vendor/ or at least /vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Util/PHP/eval-stdin.php in your web server configuration) and verify the endpoint is no longer reachable. Check access logs for POST requests to eval-stdin.php and investigate affected servers for webshells or other signs of compromise. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV |
| masshundreds of thousands of PHP sites/servers potentially exposed (order-of-magnitude estimate; unknown precise count) | |
| CVE-2018-15133 | Deserialization RCE in Laravel Framework via X-XSRF-TOKEN Header CVE-2018-15133 is a PHP deserialization flaw (CWE-502) in Laravel Framework versions through 5.5.40 and 5.6.x through 5.6.29: the decrypt method in Illuminate/Encryption/Encrypter.php passes the decrypted X-XSRF-TOKEN header value to unserialize, enabling PHP object injection via the PendingBroadcast gadget chain. A remote attacker triggers it by sending a crafted X-XSRF-TOKEN header, but only if they know the application's APP_KEY, which typically happens because the key was leaked (e.g., committed to public GitHub repositories) or reused across deployments. Successful exploitation yields remote code execution on the web server with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability; in current campaigns the AndroxGh0st malware exploits this flaw to steal AWS, Azure, and Office 365 credentials and now also distributes Mozi botnet payloads. Any Laravel 5.5.x or 5.6.x application within the affected ranges is exposed, with practical risk concentrated on apps whose APP_KEY has been exposed or shared. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the flaw to the KEV catalog on 2024-01-16, EPSS puts the 30-day exploitation probability at about 77%, and public scanning has already identified 600+ Laravel apps with leaked APP_KEYs on GitHub. Do: Upgrade Laravel Framework to a release later than 5.6.29 (latest patched 5.6.x or a supported major version) per vendor guidance; CISA's KEV required action is to apply vendor mitigations or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Because exploitation requires knowing the APP_KEY, audit and rotate the key, remove it from public repositories and exposed .env files, and hunt for AndroxGh0st activity (suspicious processes, outbound credential theft) on Laravel hosts. | 8.1 | 77% | KEV PoC |
| large≈10,000–100,000 internet-facing Laravel deployments plausibly affected (600+ apps already confirmed with leaked APP_KEYs on GitHub alone) | |
| CVE-2021-41773 | Path Traversal to RCE in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.49 Apache HTTP Server contains a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) that lets crafted HTTP requests reach files outside directories configured via Alias-like directives. When files outside those aliased directories are not protected by the default 'require all denied' policy, attackers can read arbitrary files outside the intended root, and if CGI scripts are enabled the traversal can be escalated to remote code execution under the web server account. Anyone running an affected Apache HTTP Server release with such a configuration is exposed; the initial 2.4.50 patch was incomplete, so the flaw's full remediation is tracked under CVE-2021-42013. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added the vulnerability to the KEV catalog on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns a ~100% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile). Do: Upgrade to Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 or later; do not stop at 2.4.50, since its fix was incomplete (see CVE-2021-42013). As an interim mitigation, ensure directories referenced by Alias-like directives are covered by 'require all denied' and disable or restrict CGI (mod_cgi/mod_cgid) on traversable paths. Review access logs for traversal patterns such as /icons/../ and unexpected CGI invocations, and hunt for webshells or ransomware staging given the known ransomware use. | 9.8 | 100% | KEV ransomware PoC ×6 |
| masson the order of 100,000+ internet-exposed Apache servers |
Full article509 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse
Ravie LakshmananJan 17, 2024Botnet / Cloud Security
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned that threat actors deploying the AndroxGh0st malware are creating a botnet for "victim identification and exploitation in target networks."
A Python-based malware, AndroxGh0st was first documented by Lacework in December 2022, with the malware inspiring several similar tools like AlienFox, GreenBot (aka Maintance), Legion, and Predator.
The cloud attack tool is capable of infiltrating servers vulnerable to known security flaws to access Laravel environment files and steal credentials for high-profile applications such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Office 365, SendGrid, and Twilio.
Some of the notable flaws weaponized by the attackers include CVE-2017-9841 (PHPUnit), CVE-2021-41773 (Apache HTTP Server), and CVE-2018-15133 (Laravel Framework).
"AndroxGh0st has multiple features to enable SMTP abuse including scanning, exploitation of exposed creds and APIs, and even deployment of web shells," Lacework said. "For AWS specifically, the malware scans for and parses AWS keys but also has the ability to generate keys for brute-force attacks."
The compromised AWS credentials are subsequently used to create new users and user policies, and in several instances, set up new AWS instances for additional, malicious scanning activity.
These features make AndroxGh0st a potent threat that can be used to download additional payloads and retain persistent access to compromised systems.
"AndroxGh0st is a consistent nuisance: we regularly see related user-agent strings in network connections scanning our honeypots," Alex Delamotte, senior threat researcher at SentinelLabs, told The Hacker News. "It's excellent to see CISA issuing an advisory against this type of threat, as cloud-focused malware advisories are uncommon."
The development arrives less than a week after SentinelOne revealed a related-but-distinct tool called FBot that is being employed by attackers to breach web servers, cloud services, content management systems (CMS), and SaaS platforms.
"The cloud threat landscape will continue to borrow code from other tools and integrate them into a holistic ecosystem, which is what we see with AlienFox and Legion doing with AndroxGh0st and FBot respectively," Delamotte said.
"As actors find new ways to monetize cloud services, we can expect to see tailored tools emerge for those services, much like how these tools focus on exploiting mail services to conduct spamming attacks."
It also follows an alert from NETSCOUT about a significant spike in botnet scanning activity since mid-November 2023, touching a peak of nearly 1.3 million distinct devices on January 5, 2024. A majority of the source IP addresses are associated with the U.S., China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Russia.
"Analysis of the activity has uncovered a rise in the use of cheap or free cloud and hosting servers that attackers are using to create botnet launch pads," the company said. "These servers are used via trials, free accounts, or low-cost accounts, which provide anonymity and minimal overhead to maintain."
(The story was updated after publication to include additional comments from SentinelOne.)
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