US Cyber Command, CISA warn of hackers exploiting critical VMware flaw

The move to the cloud has only increased the value of flaws in code built by VMware and other vendors.

Hackers have been leveraging a critical flaw in the software that Silicon Valley vendor VMware uses to manage virtual machines in large data centers, U.S. Cyber Command warned on Saturday.

The flaw allows an attacker to execute code remotely and potentially infiltrate sensitive computing environments that run on VMware’s widely used server management software.

Security fixes have been available since May 25, but the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Cyber Command, a U.S. military unit, urged users to update their software after researchers discovered at least one public exploit for the vulnerability.

“Please patch immediately!” the command tweeted on Saturday. VMware itself issued an urgent advisory telling clients to apply the patch on May 25.

As corporations and government agencies increasingly use cloud computing to consolidate data, the value of flaws in code built by VMware and other vendors has only grown.

Bad Packets, a Chicago-based threat intelligence provider, reported mass online scanning for the VMware vulnerability on June 3. Not long after that, security researcher Kevin Beaumont said hackers hit a simulated network he set up to detect exploitation of the flaw.

The VMware exploit is the latest case of a critical bug in popular enterprise software offering an opening for an array of capable hackers. Over the last year, federal officials have had to respond to persistent hacking operations that are only exacerbated when organizations fail to update their software.

In recent months, for example, two China-linked hacking groups have been exploiting the Pulse Connect Secure VPN software in activity affecting U.S. government agencies and the defense, transport and telecommunications sectors.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure