Mining Smominru botnet used NSA exploit to infect more than 526,000 systems
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-0144 | Remote Code Execution in Microsoft SMBv1 (EternalBlue) affecting Windows and Siemens devices CVE-2017-0144 is a remote code execution flaw in the SMBv1 server component of Microsoft Windows, commonly known as EternalBlue, and one of the SMB flaws fixed by Microsoft in the March 2017 MS17-010 bulletin. An attacker who can reach the SMB service over the network sends specially crafted packets that trigger memory corruption in the SMBv1 implementation, gaining the ability to execute arbitrary code on the target without user interaction. Successful exploitation yields full system compromise and has been heavily weaponized for wormable spread and ransomware delivery, notably via the leaked NSA exploit and in the WannaCry/NotPetya-era outbreaks, and the flaw has repeatedly been bundled into botnets and ransomware tooling since. Anyone running unpatched Windows Vista SP2 through Windows 10 1607 / Windows Server 2016 with SMBv1 enabled is affected, as are Siemens medical and laboratory devices (ACUSON ultrasound, syngo SC2000, Tissue Preparation System, VERSANT kPCR systems) whose firmware depends on SMBv1. Exploitation is actively ongoing: the flaw is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-02-10) with known ransomware use, carries a 99.2% EPSS exploitation probability (100th percentile), and multiple public exploits and PoCs are available. Do: Apply the Microsoft MS17-010 (March 2017) security updates on every listed Windows version and the corresponding Siemens firmware updates for ACUSON, syngo SC2000, Tissue Preparation System, and VERSANT kPCR devices, per CISA's required action to apply vendor updates. Where patching is not yet possible, disable SMBv1 or block inbound TCP 445 (and UDP 137/138) at network boundaries and isolate legacy/medical systems from the internet. Sweep exposed and legacy hosts for compromise indicators, including DOUBLEPULSAR implants delivered over SMB, as public tooling for detecting and neutralizing this implant is available. | 8.8 | 99% | KEV ransomware PoC ×6 |
| massorder of hundreds of thousands of internet-exposed SMB endpoints, and millions of unpatched Windows systems when internal enterprise and medical-device… | |
| CVE-2017-0176 | A buffer overflow in Smart Card authentication code in gpkcsp.dll in Microsoft Windows XP through SP3 and Server 2003 through SP2 allows a remote attacker to ex A buffer overflow in Smart Card authentication code in gpkcsp.dll in Microsoft Windows XP through SP3 and Server 2003 through SP2 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target computer, provided that the computer is joined in a Windows domain and has Remote Desktop Protocol connectivity (or Terminal Services) enabled. NVD description · AI analysis pending | 8.1 | 46% | PoC |
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Full article533 words · extracted from securityaffairs.com · click to collapse
Pierluigi Paganini
February 01, 2018
Researchers from Proofpoint discovered a huge botnet dubbed ‘Smominru’ that is using the EternalBlue exploit to infect Windows computers and recruit them in Monero cryptocurrency mining activities.
The number of cyber attacks against the cryptocurrency sector continues, vxers are focusing their efforts on the development of cryptocurrency/miner malware.
Recently security experts observed cryptocurrency miners leveraging the NSA EternalBlue SMB exploit (CVE-2017-0144) as spreading mechanism.
On August 2017, a new fileless miner dubbed CoinMiner appeared in the wild, it uses NSA EternalBlue exploit and WMI tool to spread.
Now researchers Researchers from Proofpoint discovered a huge botnet dubbed ‘Smominru’ (aka Ismo) that is using the EternalBlue exploit (CVE-2017-0144) to infect Windows computers and recruit them in Monero cryptocurrency mining activities.
” Because obtaining these cryptocurrencies through legitimate mining mechanisms is quite resource-intensive, cybercriminals are stealing them, demanding ransomware payments in them, and harnessing other computers to mine them for free. Recently, Proofpoint researchers have been tracking the massive Smominru botnet, the combined computing power of which had earned millions of dollars for its operators.” states the analysis published by Proofpoint
With the help of Abuse.CH and the ShadowServer Foundation, Proofpoint conducted a sinkholing operation that allowed to profile the botnet.
The command and control infrastructure of the Smominru botnet is hosted on DDoS protection service SharkTech, Proofpoint promptly notified the abuse to the service provider without receiving any response.
According to the researchers, the Smominru botnet has been active at least since May 2017 and has already infected more than 526,000 Windows computers.
Most of the infected systems are servers distributed worldwide, most of them in Russia, India, and Taiwan. It is a profitable business, the operators had already mined approximately 8,900 Monero ($2,346,271 at the current rate).
“Based on the hash power associated with the Monero payment address for this operation, it appeared that this botnet was likely twice the size of Adylkuzz,” the researchers said. “The operators had already mined approximately 8,900 Monero (valued this week between $2.8M and $3.6M). Each day, the botnet mined roughly 24 Monero, worth an average of $8,500 this week (Figure 2).”
The researchers at Proofpoint discovered that crooks are using at least 25 hosts to scan the Internet for EternalBlue vulnerable Windows computers and also leveraging the NSA EsteemAudit (CVE-2017-0176) for compromising the target machines.
The machines all appear to sit behind the network autonomous system AS63199, further technical details and the IoCs are included in the analysis published by Proofpoint.
“Because most of the nodes in this botnet appear to be Windows servers, the performance impact on potentially critical business infrastructure may be high, as can the cost of increased energy usage by servers running much closer to capacity. The operators of this botnet are persistent, use all available exploits to expand their botnet, and have found multiple ways to recover after sinkhole operations.” concluded the Proofpoint.
“Given the significant profits available to the botnet operators and the resilience of the botnet and its infrastructure, we expect these activities to continue, along with their potential impacts on infected nodes. We also expect botnets like that described here to become more common and to continue growing in size.”
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