Cuba Ransomware Actors Pocket $60m
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2020-1472 | Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation (Zerologon) in Microsoft Netlogon Domain Controllers CVE-2020-1472, widely known as "Zerologon," is an elevation-of-privilege flaw in how the Netlogon secure channel is established over the Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC) on Microsoft domain controllers. An unauthenticated attacker with network reachability to a domain controller sends specially crafted Netlogon messages to establish a vulnerable secure channel and then runs a specially crafted application on the network to obtain domain administrator access. Successful exploitation yields domain administrator privileges, effectively full compromise of the Active Directory environment, and the flaw is known to be used in ransomware operations. Any organization running affected Windows Server versions (2008 through 20H2) as domain controllers is exposed, along with environments using Netlogon implementations from Samba and distributions or products from Fedora, openSUSE, Canonical (Ubuntu), Debian, Synology, and Oracle. Exploitation is highly active: a public Zerologon PoC/exploit is available, the flaw is on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03, with known ransomware use), and EPSS estimates a 99.4% probability of exploitation within 30 days. Do: Apply the vendor updates on all domain controllers and other affected systems immediately, following Microsoft's two-phase Netlogon secure channel guidance (the enforcement phase of the phased rollout began in Q1 2021). Audit Netlogon secure-channel connections and event logs for clients still using vulnerable connections before enabling full enforcement, and install updated packages for Samba and other Netlogon implementations from Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, Synology, and Oracle. Given known ransomware use, prioritize patching any domain controller reachable from user networks, VPNs, or the internet. | 5.5 | 99% | KEV ransomware PoC |
| massmillions of domain controllers worldwide (essentially every Active Directory domain), with hundreds of thousands of domain controllers/RPC endpoints… | |
| CVE-2022-24521 | Out-of-bounds Write Privilege Escalation in Microsoft Windows CLFS Driver CVE-2022-24521 is an elevation-of-privilege flaw in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) driver, a kernel component, caused by an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787). A local attacker who already has limited privileges on an affected Windows machine can trigger the bug and gain elevated (SYSTEM/administrator) rights without any user interaction. Because the CLFS driver is part of the operating system, every user and service on an unpatched host is exposed to post-compromise escalation, which ransomware operators use to move from an initial foothold to full control. Affected products per the data include Windows 10 releases 1507, 1607, 1809, 1909, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2, Windows 11 21H2, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2008. The flaw was patched in Microsoft's April 2022 Patch Tuesday, added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-04-13, and is known to be used in ransomware campaigns, with public reporting tying exploitation to Cuba ransomware activity. Do: Apply the April 2022 Microsoft security updates (Patch Tuesday, released April 12, 2022) to all affected Windows 10/11, Windows 7/8.1/RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2008 systems immediately, per the CISA KEV required action; note that Windows 7/8.1/RT 8.1 and Server 2008 may require Extended Security Updates to receive the fix. Because this is a local privilege escalation, prioritize hosts reachable for initial access, review endpoint telemetry for suspicious limited-user-to-SYSTEM activity, and watch for indicators associated with Cuba ransomware campaigns exploiting this flaw. | 7.8 | 7% | KEV ransomware |
| mass≈1 billion+ Windows devices (the CLFS driver ships in all supported Windows 10/11 and legacy client releases) |
Full article291 words · extracted from infosecurity-magazine.com · click to collapse
A leading US security agency has warned of the continued threat posed by the Cuba ransomware variant, which has made its affiliates and developers $60m as of August.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revealed in a new alert that the ransomware has compromised at least 100 entities worldwide, having doubled its victim count in the US since last December.
The group and its affiliates mainly target financial services, government, healthcare, critical manufacturing and IT companies. Disappointingly, ransoms are increasingly being paid, CISA said. The group has demanded $145m to date in recorded attacks.
Threat actors use one of several tried-and-tested techniques to gain initial access: phishing campaigns, vulnerability exploitation, compromised credentials and remote desktop protocol (RDP) tools.
Once inside, the ransomware itself is distributed via a loader known as “Hancitor,” the report revealed.
However, since spring this year, the group has modified some of its tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).
It uses a dropper that writes a kernel driver to the file system called ApcHelper.sys, in order to terminate any security products running on victims’ machines. It also exploits CVE-2022-24521 to steal system tokens and elevate privileges, and CVE-2020-1472 to gain domain administrator privileges.
CISA also cited Palo Alto Networks research linking the Cuba ransomware variant to the custom RomCom RAT for command and control (C2), and the Industrial Spy ransomware, on whose marketplace the group has sold stolen data.
“According to third-party reporting, suspected Cuba ransomware actors compromised a foreign healthcare company. The threat actors deployed Industrial Spy ransomware, which shares distinct similarities in configuration to Cuba ransomware,” CISA said.
“Before deploying the ransomware, the actors moved laterally using Impacket and deployed the RomCom RAT and Meterpreter Reverse Shell HTTP/HTTPS proxy via a C2 server.”
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