Week in review: Fortinet patches pre-auth RCE, Switzerland under cyberattack

VMware Aria Operations for Networks (formerly vRealize Network Insight) contains a command injection flaw (CWE-77) that allows an attacker with network access to the appliance to run arbitrary operating-system commands. Because the attack requires no authentication, privileges, or user interaction (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N), any party able to reach the product's network interface can trigger it, gaining remote code execution with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Any organization running the product is affected, with internet-facing deployments at the greatest risk. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild — CISA added the flaw to the KEV catalog on 2023-06-22, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available, and EPSS puts the 30-day exploitation probability at 98.3% (top percentile). Ransomware use is currently unknown.

Do: Apply the vendor's patched update to all Aria Operations for Networks deployments as soon as possible — this is also CISA's required KEV action (apply updates per vendor instructions); verify the installed build against VMware's advisory for affected ranges. Until patching is complete, restrict network access to the appliance (firewall rules, VPN, or management-segment isolation), prioritizing any instance reachable from the internet since no authentication is required to exploit. Hunt for indicators of command injection exploitation, as in-the-wild exploitation has been confirmed.

Aria Operations for Networks contains an authenticated deserialization vulnerability. A malicious actor with network access to VMware Aria Operations for Networks and valid 'member' role credentials may be able to perform a deserialization attack resulting in remote code execution.

CVE-2023-27997 is a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122, with associated out-of-bounds write CWE-787) in the SSL-VPN component of Fortinet FortiOS and FortiProxy, reachable by unauthenticated users. A remote attacker can trigger it with specially crafted requests to the SSL-VPN web interface, gaining the ability to execute arbitrary code or commands on the gateway. Full control of an edge VPN/firewall appliance enables credential theft, session hijacking, and pivoting into the protected network, which makes the bug attractive to ransomware operators. Any organization exposing the SSL-VPN portal on the affected FortiOS builds (7.2.4 and below, 7.0.11 and below, 6.4.12 and below, 6.0.16 and below) or FortiProxy builds (7.2.3 and below, 7.0.9 and below, 2.0.12 and below, and 1.1/1.2 all versions) is potentially exposed. The flaw is under active exploitation: CISA added it to the KEV on 2023-06-13 with known ransomware use, EPSS estimates an ~86% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile), and reporting indicates it was likely being exploited in the wild, with Fortinet also warning that some attackers retained access to FortiGate devices even after patching.

Do: Apply Fortinet's updates to all SSL-VPN-enabled FortiOS and FortiProxy appliances as required by the CISA KEV listing, upgrading each affected branch beyond the listed versions (end-of-life FortiProxy 1.1/1.2 requires migration to a supported release); if SSL-VPN is not needed, disable the web portal or restrict it to trusted source addresses. After patching, hunt for signs of compromise and rotate credentials and VPN-related secrets, since Fortinet warned that some attackers retained access to FortiGate devices post-patching.

CVE-2023-34362 is an unauthenticated SQL injection flaw (CWE-89) in Progress MOVEit Transfer that allows an attacker with no credentials to gain unauthorized access to the product's database. It is triggered remotely via crafted input submitted to the MOVEit Transfer web application, with the impact varying by the backend database engine in use (MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or Azure SQL). A successful attacker can infer the structure and contents of the database and, depending on the engine, execute SQL statements that alter or delete database elements, exposing data handled by the file-transfer service. Any organization running an internet-reachable MOVEit Transfer instance is affected; public internet-exposure scans around disclosure identified on the order of a few thousand servers, each typically serving enterprise or government user bases. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA KEV on 2023-06-02 with known ransomware use and an EPSS exploitation probability of 99.9% (100th percentile), while no public PoC is known.

Do: Apply the vendor's updates immediately, per Progress instructions and CISA's required action. Until patched, restrict internet exposure of MOVEit Transfer and check the backend database for unexpected structure or content changes and deletions. Because in-the-wild exploitation and ransomware use are confirmed, treat any unpatched, internet-facing instance as potentially compromised and review stored transfer data and access logs for anomalies.