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OpenAI
Artificial Intelligence Bug Chatbot ChatGPT Cyber Security GDPR OpenAI

A ChatGPT Bug Exposes Sensitive User Data

OpenAI's ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) language model that can produce text that resembles human speech, has a security flaw. The flaw enabled the model to unintentionally expose private user information, endangering the privacy of several users. This event serves as a reminder of the value of cybersecurity and the necessity for businesses to protect customer data in a proactive manner.

According to a report by Tech Monitor, the ChatGPT bug "allowed researchers to extract personal data from users, including email addresses and phone numbers, as well as reveal the model's training data." This means that not only were users' personal information exposed, but also the sensitive data used to train the AI model. As a result, the incident raises concerns about the potential misuse of the leaked information.

The ChatGPT bug not only affects individual users but also has wider implications for organizations that rely on AI technology. As noted in a report by India Times, "the breach not only exposes the lack of security protocols at OpenAI, but it also brings forth the question of how safe AI-powered systems are for businesses and consumers."

Furthermore, the incident highlights the importance of adhering to regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which aims to protect individuals' personal data in the European Union. The ChatGPT bug violated GDPR regulations by exposing personal data without proper consent.

OpenAI has taken swift action to address the issue, stating that they have fixed the bug and implemented measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. However, the incident serves as a warning to businesses and individuals alike to prioritize cybersecurity measures and to be aware of potential vulnerabilities in AI systems.

As stated by Cyber Security Connect, "ChatGPT may have just blurted out your darkest secrets," emphasizing the need for constant vigilance and proactive measures to safeguard sensitive information. This includes regular updates and patches to address security flaws, as well as utilizing encryption and other security measures to protect data.

The ChatGPT bug highlights the need for ongoing vigilance and preventative measures to protect private data in the era of advanced technology. Prioritizing cybersecurity and staying informed of vulnerabilities is crucial for a safer digital environment as AI systems continue to evolve and play a prominent role in various industries.




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Windows
Bug Flaws Privacy Bug Vulnerabilities and Exploits Windows

A Privacy Flaw in Windows 11's Snipping Tool Exposes Cropped Image Content

 

A serious privacy vulnerability known as 'acropalypse' has also been discovered in the Windows Snipping Tool, enabling people to partially restore content that was photoshopped out of an image. 

Security researchers David Buchanan and Simon Aarons discovered last week that a bug in Google Pixel's Markup Tool caused the original image data to be retained even when it was edited or cropped out. This flaw poses a significant privacy risk because it may be possible to partially recover the original photo if a user shares a picture, such as a credit card with a redacted number or revealing photos with the face removed.

To demonstrate the bug, the researchers created an online acropalypse screenshot recovery tool that attempted to recover edited images created on Google Pixel.

The Windows 11 Snipping Tool was also affected

Today, Chris Blume, a software engineer, confirmed that the 'acropalypse' privacy flaw also affects the Windows 11 Snipping Tool. Instead of truncating any unused data when opening a file in the Windows 11 Snipping Tool and overwriting an existing file, it leaves the unused data behind, allowing it to be partially recovered.

Will Dormann, a vulnerability expert, also confirmed the Windows 11 Snipping Tool flaw, and BleepingComputer confirmed the issue with Dormann's assistance. To put this to the test, Bleeping Computer opened an existing PNG file in Windows 11 Snipping Tool, cropped it (you can also edit or mark it up), and saved the changes to the original file. 

While the cropped image comprises far less data than the original, the file sizes for the original image (office-screenshot-original.png) and cropped image (office-screenshot.png) are identical. According to the PNG file specification, a PNG image file must always end with a 'IEND' data chunk, with any data added after that being ignored by image editors and viewers.

However, when used the Windows 11 Snipping Tool to overwrite the original image with the cropped version, the programme did not properly truncate the unused data, and it is still present after the IEND data chunk.

When you open the file in an image viewer, you'll only see the cropped image because anything after the first IEND is ignored. This untruncated data, on the other hand, can be used to partially recreate the original image, potentially revealing sensitive portions.

While the researcher's online acropalypse screenshot recovery app does not currently support Windows files, Buchanan did share with BleepingComputer a Python script that can be used to recover Windows files.

BleepingComputer successfully recovered a portion of the image using this script. This was not a complete recovery of the original image, which may leave you wondering why this poses a privacy risk.

Consider taking a screenshot of a sensitive spreadsheet, confidential documents, or even a naked picture and cropping out sensitive information or portions of the image. Even if you are unable to fully recover the original image, someone may be able to recover sensitive information that you do not want made public. It should also be noted that this flaw does not affect all PNG files, such as optimised PNGs.

"Your original PNG was saved with a single zlib block (common for "optimised" PNGs) but actual screenshots are saved with multiple zlib blocks (which my exploit requires)," Buchanan explained to BleepingComputer.

BleepingComputer also discovered that if you open an untruncated PNG file in an image editor, such as Photoshop, and save it to another file, the unused data at the end is stripped away, rendering it unrecoverable.

Finally, the Windows 11 Snipping Tool behaves similarly to the above with JPG files, leaving data untruncated if overwritten. However, Buchanan told BleepingComputer that his exploit does not currently work on JPGs but that it might in the future. Microsoft confirmed to BleepingComputer that they are aware of the reports and are investigating them.

"We are aware of these reports and are investigating. We will take action as needed to help keep customers protected," a Microsoft spokesperson told BleepingComputer.

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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug Cybersecurity Data Theft LastPass Vulnerabilities and Exploits

LastPass Breach: CISA Warns of Exploited Plex Bug

 


An employee of LastPass was responsible for the massive breach at the company as he failed to update Plex on his home computer when he was updating Plex on his work computer. A potential danger lurks in failing to keep software up-to-date, as this is a sobering reminder of the risks involved. 

In a recent report on the embattled password management service, it was revealed that unidentified actors used information stolen from a previous incident that occurred before August 12, 2022, to launch a coordinated second attack between August and October 2022 based on information that was obtained from a third-party data breach and vulnerabilities in third-party media software packages. 

In the end, an intrusion led to the adversary stealing information about customers and password vault data, which was partially encrypted. 

Secondly, an attack targeted one of the DevOps engineers, forging credentials and breaching the cloud storage environment by infecting the engineer's home computer with keylogger malware. 

In addition to a critical severity vulnerability, CISA added a known exploited vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) section (tracked as CVE-2021-39144), exploited by third parties since early December. 

U.S. federal agencies have been made aware that, by a binding operational directive (BOD 22-01) issued by the Army in November 2021, they are now mandated to secure their systems against attacks until March 31st to prevent potential attacks exploiting the two security holes that could impact their networks. 

As part of its ongoing effort to identify security flaws exploited by hackers, CISA has discovered a high-severity and relatively older remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in Plex Media Server that was discovered almost three years ago.

This issue has been tracked as CVE-2020-5741 and it has been described as a deserialization flaw in Plex Media Server that can be exploited remotely to execute arbitrary Python code, which is also described as a high-severity flaw. 

It should be noted that this vulnerability has been addressed with the release of Plex Media Server 1.19.3, which means the attacker would need administrator rights to exploit the vulnerability successfully. Due to this, it is unlikely that it will be a target of an attack in the future. 

In August 2022, Plex reported that there had been a data breach that could adversely affect over 15 million customers. In this breach, usernames, emails, and passwords were stolen, resulting in the loss of personal information. 

The implications of this are that unpatched Plex Media Server instances are still vulnerable to CVE-2020-5741 attacks and could be exploited by malicious individuals. 

Although the CISA team added the vulnerability to the KEV list without providing any information about its potential in-the-wild exploitation, media reports recently suggested that a Plex bug exploited to hack a DevOps engineer's computer may have been responsible for the data breach at LastPass last year that led to the theft of user vault data.
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Vulnerability
Bug Clop Ransomware Cyber Security Flaws Ransomware Vulnerability

Clop Ransomware Flaw Permitted Linux Victims to Restore Files for Months

 

The first Linux version of the Clop ransomware has been discovered in the wild, but with a flawed encryption algorithm that enables the process to be reverse-engineered. 

"The ELF executable contains a flawed encryption algorithm making it possible to decrypt locked files without paying the ransom," SentinelOne researcher Antonis Terefos said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

The cybersecurity firm, which has created a decryptor available, stated that it discovered the ELF version on December 26, 2022, while also mentioning similarities to the Windows flavor in terms of employing the same encryption method. Around the same time, the detected sample is said to be a component of a larger attack targeting educational institutions in Colombia, including La Salle University. As per FalconFeedsio, the university was added to the criminal group's leak site in early January 2023.

The Clop (stylized as Cl0p) ransomware operation, which has been active since 2019, dealt a major blow in June 2021 when six members of the group were arrested by police as part of an international law enforcement operation codenamed Operation Cyclone.

However, the cybercrime group made a "explosive and unexpected" comeback in early 2022, claiming dozens of victims from the industrial and technology sectors. SentinelOne classified the Linux version as an early-stage version due to the absence of some functions found in the Windows counterpart.

This lack of feature parity is also explained by the malware authors' decision to create a custom Linux payload rather than simply porting over the Windows version, implying that future Clop variants may close the gap.

"A reason for this could be that the threat actor has not needed to dedicate time and resources to improve obfuscation or evasiveness due to the fact that it is currently undetected by all 64 security engines on VirusTotal," Terefos explained.

The Linux version is intended to encrypt specific folders and file types, with the ransomware containing a hard-coded master key that can be used to recover the original files without paying the threat actors. If anything, the development indicates a growing trend of threat actors branching out beyond Windows to target other platforms.

Terefos concluded, "While the Linux-flavored variation of Cl0p is, at this time, in its infancy, its development and the almost ubiquitous use of Linux in servers and cloud workloads suggests that defenders should expect to see more Linux-targeted ransomware campaigns going forward," 
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits.
Bug Code Execution Flaw CVE Sandboxing User Privacy VMware Vulnerabilities and Exploits.

RCE Vulnerability patched in vm2 Sandbox

Researchers from Oxeye found a serious vm2 vulnerability (CVE-2022-36067) that has the highest CVSS score of 10.0. R&D executives, AppSec engineers, and security experts must make sure they rapidly repair the vm2 sandbox if they utilize it in their apps due to a new vulnerability known as SandBreak.

The most widely used Javascript sandbox library is vm2, which receives about 17.5 million downloads each month. It offers a widely used software testing framework that may synchronously execute untrusted code in a single process.

The Node.js functionality that allows vm2 maintainers to alter the call stack of failures in the software testing framework is the primary culprit in the vulnerability, which Oxeye's researchers have dubbed SandBreak.

According to senior security researcher Gal Goldshtein of Oxeye, "when examining the prior issues revealed to the vm2 maintainers, we observed an unusual technique: the bug reporter leveraged the error mechanism in Node.js to escape the sandbox."

Modern applications use sandboxes for a variety of functions, including inspecting attached files in email servers, adding an extra layer of protection in web browsers, and isolating running programs in some operating systems. Bypassing the vm2 sandbox environment, a hacker who takes advantage of this vulnerability would be able to execute shell commands on the computer hosting it.

The vm2 vulnerability can still have serious repercussions for apps that use vm2 without a fix due to the nature of the use cases for sandboxes. Given that this vulnerability does have the highest CVSS score and is quite well-known, its potential impact is both significant and extensive.

Nevertheless, an attacker might offer its alternative implementation of the prepareStackTrace technique and escape the sandbox because it did not cover all particular methods.

The researchers at Oxeye also were able to substitute their own implementation, which contained a unique prepareStackTrace function for the global Error object. When it was called, it would discover a CallSite object outside the sandbox, enabling the host to run any code.

Users are advised to upgrade as quickly as possible to the most recent version due to the vulnerability's serious severity and to reduce potential risks.


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WhatsApp
Bug Facebook Meta Phishing Attacks Privacy Telegram WhatsApp

Pavel Durov: Users Must Cease Using WhatsApp Since it's a Spying Tool

WhatsApp is among the most popular messaging apps in the world. It was first launched in January 2009 and since then evolved to include audio and video calls, emojis, and WhatsApp Payments. However, criticism has also surrounded the well-known messaging app due to claims about privacy and security issues. 

Recently, WhatsApp disclosed a security flaw affecting its Android app that was deemed critical. Pavel Durov, the creator of Telegram, pokes fun at WhatsApp and advises users to avoid it. 

Hackers could have complete access to all aspects of WhatsApp users' phones, according to Telegram founder Pavel Durov. Additionally, he asserted that WhatsApp has been monitoring user data for the past 13 years while claiming that WhatsApp's security flaws were planned purposely.

Durov outlined Telegram's security and privacy characteristics by saying, "I'm not trying to convince anyone to use Telegram here. There is no need to promote Telegram more." He claimed that Telegram's instant messaging software prioritizes privacy. With more than 700 million active users as of right now, the app is apparently growing steadily, adding over 2 million new users every day.

Regarding security and privacy, WhatsApp states that all texts, chats, and video calls are provided with end-to-end encryption. However, the program has frequently experienced bugs and security problems, which have sparked concerns about its privacy.

In terms of private chats and user data, WhatsApp already has a complicated and distorted past. People have been worried about Facebook's handling of users' personal data ever since it purchased Meta in 2014. For revealing user data not just with governmental organizations but also with private parties, Meta has been criticized for a considerable time.

The rise in popularity of Telegram and Signal and other instant messaging services with a security and privacy focus can be attributed to this.

According to a recent report from Meta, WhatsApp users are susceptible to hacking due to a flaw in the way videos are downloaded and played back. If this flaw is exploited, hackers would have complete access to virtually everything on the phone of the WhatsApp user. Along with users' emails and pictures, this also contains other correspondence, such as SMS messages from various banks and app data from one's banking and payment apps.




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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug Bugs Exploits open Patch Fix patch fixes Security patches Vulnerabilities and Exploits

Dex: ID Service Patches Bug that Allows Unauthorized Access to Client Applications

 

The renowned OpenID Connect (OIDC) identity service, Dex has detected and patched a critical vulnerability. The bug allows a threat actor access to the victim's ID tokens via intercepted authorization code, potentially accessing clients’ applications without authorization. The vulnerability was patched by Sigstore developers Hayden Blauzvern, Bob Callaway, and ‘joernchen', who initially reported the bug. 

The open-source sandbox project of Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Dex utilizes an identification layer on top of OAuth 2.0, providing authentication to other applications.  

Dex acts as a portal to other identity providers through certain ‘connectors’, ranging from authentication to LDAP servers, SAML providers, or identity providers like GitHub, Google, and Active Directory. As a result, Dex claims 35.6 million downloads to date. As stated in the Developer's notification, the bug affects “Dex instances with the public clients (and by extension, clients accepting tokens issued by those Dex instances.” 

As per the discovery made by security researchers, the threat actor can steal an OAuth authentication code by luring the victim to enter a malicious website and further, leading him into the OIDC flow. Thence the victim is tricked into exchanging the authorization code for a token, which allows access to applications that accept the token. As the exploit can be used multiple times, the threat actor can get a new token every time the old one expires.  

The bug thus comes into existence because the authentication process instigates a persistent “connector state parameter" as the request ID to look up the OAuth code. 

“Once the user has successfully authenticated, if the webserver is able to call /approval before the victim’s browser calls /approval, then an attacker can fetch the Dex OAuth code which can be exchanged for an ID token using the /token endpoint,” the advisory stated. The users are advised to update to version 2.35.0, as the vulnerability, having the CVSS rating of 9.3, affects versions 2.34.0 and older.  

The bug was fixed by introducing a hash-based message authentication (HMAC) code, that utilizes a randomly generated per-request secret, oblivious to the threat actor, and is persisted between the initial login and the approval request, making the server request unpredictable.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug Bugs Exploit Flaws Open Source System python Vulnerabilities and Exploits

A 15-Year-Old Bug Affected Over 350,000 Open-Source Projects

 

Trellix, an advanced research centre rediscovered a 15-year-old vulnerability in Python programming language that is still being exploited and has affected over 350,000 projects. 

The threat researchers at Trellix considered claimed to have found a zero-day vulnerability, it is a 15-year-old security flaw in the Python module, that has remained unpatched, and is now exposing around 350,000 open as well as closed source projects to the risk of supply chain cyberattacks. 

The Trellix estimate indicates that many of the affected repositories are used by machine learning tools that help developers to complete the project as soon as possible. 

In of one of the articles, Kasimir Schulz mentioned that the vulnerability was a form of routed traversal attack in the “extract and extractall functions of the tarfile module,” which is contained within the TAR file module itself. These open-source projects cover a wide range of areas including web development, media, IT management, software development, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and security. 

The vulnerability, tracked as “CVE-2007-4559”, permits the threat actor linked with a user, to execute the code and overlap the arbitrary files by using filenames with dedicated sequenced filenames in the TAR archive. This allows the attacker to acquire control of the targeted device. 

It is similar to the vulnerability named, CVE-2022-30333, which was recently found in RARIab’s UnRAR, which also allows the attacker to execute the code remotely. 

The CVE-2007-4559 was first discovered in 2007 when it was declared as a vulnerability of low importance by Red Hat, one of the world’s leading solution providers of enterprise open-source software. 

The bug can be leveraged on Linux as well. It includes the specially crafted TAR archive used to overwrite or overlap the existing arbitrary files on the targeted device by just opening the file. It is through this simple overlap that the attacker is able to inject the malicious tarfile in a way that allows him to execute the code by intending that the file be extracted after crossing the directory boundary. 

Reportedly, the patches have been introduced by Trellix for the aforesaid vulnerability. Initially, they are made available for about 11000 projects, but within the next week, they will be available for about 7000 projects.
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Windows 10
Bug CVE vulnerability HP Patch Fix User Privacy Vulnerabilities and Exploits Windows 10

HP Bug Left Unpatched for a Year

Six high-severity software flaws have been known since July 2021, they cause a range of vulnerabilities in HP products used in enterprise settings and are not yet patched.

Firmware defects can result in malware infections that last even after an OS re-installation or allow long-term breaches that would not be detected by regular security techniques, making them extremely dangerous.

Although some of the weaknesses were made public by Binarly at Black Hat 2022 a month ago, the manufacturer hasn't delivered security upgrades for all afflicted models, leaving many customers vulnerable to attacks.

Binarly contributed to the resolution of six serious flaws that not only affect these devices but also numerous other HP product lines. This disclosure, which details arbitrary code execution flaws linked to System Management Mode, was coordinated with the HP PSIRT team (HPSBHF03806) (SMM).

SMM is a component of the UEFI firmware, which offers system-wide features including power management and low-level device control. Since this SMM sub-system has greater privileges than the operating system kernel (ring 0), vulnerabilities affecting the SMM can render security mechanisms ineffective.

According to Binarly, HP has not fixed the following six vulnerabilities for months:
  • Stack-based buffer overflow resulting in unauthorized code execution is CVE-2022-23930. Score for CVSS v3: 8.2 'High'
  • Out-of-bounds write on CommBuffer, which permits evading some validation, is CVE-2022-31644. Score for CVSS v3: 7.5 'High'
  • Out-of-bounds write on CommBuffer due to failure to verify the size of the pointer given to the SMI handler, CVE-2022-31645. Score for CVSS v3: 8.2 'High'
  • Out-of-bounds writing using the direct memory manipulation API feature can result in privilege elevation and arbitrary code execution, according to CVE-2022-31646. Score for CVSS v3: 8.2 'High'
  • CVE-2022-31640 - Inadequate input validation gives attackers access to the CommBuffer data and creates a conduit for unauthorized changes. Score for CVSS v3: 7.5 'High'
  • Callout vulnerability in the SMI handler that allows for arbitrary code execution is CVE-2022-31641. Score for CVSS v3: 7.5 'High'
Patch fix updates

Three security advisories have been posted by HP acknowledging the aforementioned vulnerabilities, and an equal number of BIOS updates have been released to remedy the problems for some of the vulnerable models; with the exception of thin client PCs, which received security updates on August 9, 2022. 

While CVE-2022-31640 and CVE-2022-31641 were fixed during August, the most recent update was released on September 7, 2022, and many HP workstations are still vulnerable. Furthermore, CVE-2022-23930 was patched on all impacted systems in March 2022.

The BIOS is a crucial component that guarantees compatibility between updated software and legacy hardware. Before installing Windows 10, make certain that your computer has the most recent BIOS installed.

The Windows update may fail and roll back due to an outdated graphics driver. Before beginning the update procedure, it is advised to check and make sure the most recent Graphics drivers are installed on your computer.


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User Privacy
API Bug Google malware Phishing Scams URL User Privacy

 Google Chrome Flaw Enables Sites to Copy text to Clipboard

A flaw in the Google Chrome browser and other Chromium-based browsers could enable malicious websites to automatically rewrite the contents of the clipboard without asking the user's permission or requiring any user involvement.

Developer Jeff Johnson claims that the clipboard poisoning exploit was unintentionally added to Chrome version 104.  Web pages can also write to the system clipboard in Safari and Firefox, but both browsers have gesture-based security measures in place.

The flaw has been spotted by Chrome developers, but a patch has not yet been released, therefore it is still present in the most recent desktop and mobile versions of Chrome.

Security flaw

Operating systems have a temporary storage area called the system clipboard. It can contain sensitive information like passwords, banking account numbers, and cryptocurrency wallet strings and is frequently used for copying and pasting.

Users are at risk as they may end up being the targets of malware attacks if arbitrary content is written over this temporary storage space.

Users might be lured to visit websites that have been carefully built to look like reputable bitcoin services by hackers. The website might write the threat actor's address to the clipboard when the user attempts to make a payment and copy their wallet address to the clipboard.

On some websites, the user may be given the option to add more information to the clipboard when selecting text to copy from a website typically the page URL. However, in such cases, there is no obvious notification or user input before the clipboard overflows with random text.

All online browsers that support clipboard writing, have poor and insufficient security measures, according to a blog post on the subject.

When a user selects a piece of text and presses Control+C or chooses 'Copy' from the context menu, the web page is given permission to utilize the clipboard API.

Johnson explained, "Therefore, even a seemingly innocent action like clicking a link or using the arrow keys to scroll down the page allows the website to overwrite one's system clipboard." He conducted tests on Safari and Firefox and discovered that loading a web page allowed clipboard writing permission when the down arrow key was pressed or the mouse scroll wheel was used to navigate.

Fortunately, Johnson's testing showed that websites could not misuse this authorization to read clipboard contents, as it would be problematic for user privacy.
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User Privacy
Brute Force Attacks Bug Password Hashing Privacy Two Factor Authentication User Privacy

Slack Fixed Security Flaw for Passwords

When establishing or revoking shared invitation links for workplaces, a bug revealed salted password hashes, therefore Slack claimed it reset passwords for around 0.5 percent of its users.

A cryptographic method known as hashing converts any type of data into a fixed-size output. Salting is intended to strengthen the hashing operation's security and make it more resilient to brute-force attacks.

The flaw was found and patched in Slack's Shared Invite Link functionality, which allows Slack workspace owners to generate a link that will allow anybody to join, according to official Slack documentation. The function is provided as an alternative to sending out individual email invitations to join the workplace.

All users who created or canceled shared invitation links between 17 April 2017 and 17 July 2022 are said to have been affected by the problem, which was discovered by an anonymous independent security researcher.

Bret Taylor, co-CEO of Salesforce, stated on the business's most recent earnings call in May for the period ending April 30 that the number of customers investing more than $100,000 on Slack annually had increased by more than 40% on an annualized basis for four straight quarters. In July 2021, Salesforce completed the $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack.

The business claimed that no Slack client kept or displayed the hashed password and that active encrypted network traffic monitoring was necessary for its discovery. The business is also using the event to encourage people to enable two-factor authentication as a defense against account takeover attempts and develop original passwords for online services.
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Vulnerability and Exploits.
Bug CVE vulnerability Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities and Exploits Vulnerability and Exploits.

Bug Discovered in DrayTek Vigor Routers by Trellix

The widely used series of DrayTek Vigor routers for small businesses have been found to have a significant, pre-authenticated remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. Researchers caution that if it is exploited, it may enable total device takeover as well as access to a larger network.

The DrayTek Vigor series of business routers has 29 variants that are vulnerable, according to threat detection company Trellix. Although other versions that share the same codebase are also affected, the problem was initially identified in a Vigor 3910 device.

In under 30 days from the time, it was discovered, the Taiwan-based maker delivered firmware patches to fix the flaw. 

The vulnerability CVE-2022-3254 could enable a remote, unauthenticated attacker to run arbitrary code and seize total control of a susceptible device. The hacker might get hold of breach private data, spy on network activity, or use the exploited router to run a botnet. Denial of service (DoS) conditions can result from unsuccessful exploitation efforts.

DrayTek Vigor devices benefited from the "work from home" trend during the pandemic to gain a reputation. Over 700,000 online devices were found in a Shodan search, with the majority being in the UK, Vietnam, Netherlands, and Australia. This is susceptible to attack without user input.

The vulnerability can be exploited without the need for user input or passwords thanks to the default device configuration, which allows for both LAN and internet access.

At least 200,000 of the discovered routers were determined by the researchers to expose the vulnerable service on the internet, making them easily exploitable without user input or any other specific requirements. The attack surface is reduced because many of the remaining 500,000 are considered vulnerable using one-click attacks, but only via LAN.

Although Trellix has not detected any evidence of this vulnerability being exploited in the wild, threat actors frequently employ DrayTek routers as a target for their hacks, therefore it's crucial that customers apply the patch as soon as they can.

There have been no indications of CVE-2022-32548, although as CISA recently highlighted, state-sponsored APTs from China and others frequently target SOHO routers.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
attackers Bug Flaws Safety Security Vulnerabilities and Exploits

This Path Traversal Bug Enabled Hackers to Delete Server Files

 

Due to a security flaw in the file transfer programme CompleteFTP, unauthenticated attackers were able to delete arbitrary files on vulnerable installations. 

CompleteFTP is a proprietary FTP and SFTP server for Windows developed by EnterpriseDT of Australia that supports FTPS, SFTP, and HTTPS. A security researcher known as rgod uncovered a problem in the HttpFile class that stems from the failure to properly validate a user-supplied path before utilising it in file operations. 

A security advisory explains, “This vulnerability allows remote attackers to delete arbitrary files on affected installations of EnterpriseDT CompleteFTP server. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to delete files in the context of SYSTEM.” 

The vulnerability was given CVE-2022-2560 and was addressed in CompleteFTP version 22.1.1. Other security changes in this release include the SHA-2 cryptographic hash algorithm for RSA signatures and a new format for PuTTY private keys.

Sharing below a brief capture of the vulnerability:
  • CVSS SCORE: 8.2, (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H)
  • AFFECTED VENDORS: EnterpriseDT
  • AFFECTED PRODUCTS: CompleteFTP
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Fixed in version 22.1.1.
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WordPress
Bug CVE vulnerability IP addresses malware phishing PHP Plugins Trojan Attacks WordPress

Defective WordPress Plugin Permits Full Invasion

 

According to security researchers, a campaign scanning almost 1.6 million websites was made to take advantage of an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in a previously disclosed vulnerable WordPress plugin.

Identified as CVE-2021-24284, the vulnerability that affects Kaswara Modern WPBakery Page Builder Addons, when exploited, gives an unauthorized attacker access to sites using any version of the plugin and enables them to upload and delete files or instead gain complete control of the website.

Wordfence reported the vulnerability over three months ago, and in a new alert this week it warned that attackers are scaling up their attacks, which began on July 4 and are still active. The WordPress security provider claims to have halted 443,868 attacks on client websites per day and strives to do the same till date. Daily, on average, 443,868 tries are made.

Malicious code injection  

The hacker attempts to upload a spam ZIP payload that contains a PHP file using the plugin's 'uploadFontIcon' AJAX function by sending a POST request to 'wp-admin/admin-ajax/php'.

Afterward, this file pulls the NDSW trojan, which inserts code into the target sites' legitimate Javascript files to reroute users to dangerous websites including phishing and malware-dropping sites. You've likely been infected if any of your JavaScript files contain the string "; if(ndsw==" or if these files themselves contain the "; if(ndsw==" string.

All versions of the software are vulnerable to an attack because the bug was never patched by the software creators, and the plugin is currently closed. The bug hunters stated that although 1,599,852 different sites were hit, a bulk of them wasn't hosting the plugin, and they believed that between 4,000 and 8,000 sites still have the vulnerable plugin installed.

Blocking the attackers' IP addresses is advised even if you are not utilizing the plugin. Visit Wordfence's blog for additional information on the indicators and the sources of requests that are the most common.

If you're still using it, you need to remove the Kaswara Modern WPBakery Page Builder Addons plugin from your WordPress website.
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Vulnerability and Exploits.
API Bug CVE vulnerability Patch Fix Security Update SQL Injection Vulnerabilities and Exploits Vulnerability and Exploits.

A SQL Injection bug Hits the Django web Framework

 

A serious vulnerability has been addressed in the most recent versions of the open-source Django web framework. 

Updates decrease the risk of SQL Injection

Developers are advised to update or patch their Django instances as soon after the Django team issues versions Django 4.0.6 and Django 3.2.14 that fix a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability. 

Malicious actors may exploit the vulnerability, CVE-2022-34265, by passing particular inputs to the Trunc and Extract methods.

The issue, which can be leveraged if untrusted data was used as a kind/lookup name value, is said to be present in the Trunc() and Extract() database functions, according to the researchers. It is feasible to lessen the danger of being exploited by implementing input sanitization for these functions.

Bugfixes 

Django's main branch and the 4.1, 4.0, and 3.2 release branches have all received patches to fix the problem. 

"This security update eliminates the problem, but we've found enhancements to the Database API methods for date extract and truncate that should be added to Django 4.1 before its official release. Django 4.1 releases candidate 1 or newer third-party database backends will be affected by this until they can be updated to the new API. We apologize for the trouble," Django team stated.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug Cybersecurity Firms Exploits Flaws RCE Vulnerabilities and Exploits

SpringShell Attacks Target About One in Six Vulnerable Orgs

 

According to figures from one cybersecurity firm, about one out of every six firms affected by the Spring4Shell zero-day vulnerability has already been targeted by threat actors. 

The exploitation attempts occurred within the first four days of the severe remote code execution (RCE) issue, CVE-2022-22965, and the associated attack code was publicly disclosed. 37,000 Spring4Shell attacks were discovered over the weekend alone, according to Check Point, which generated the statistics based on their telemetry data. Software vendors appear to be the most hit industry, accounting for 28% of the total, possibly due to their high vulnerability to supply chain threats. 

Based on their visibility, Check Point ranks Europe #1 in terms of the most targeted region, with 20%. This suggests that the malicious effort to exploit existing RCE possibilities against vulnerable systems is well underway, and threat actors seem to be turning to Spring4Shell while unpatched systems are still exposed. North America accounts for 11% of Check Point's detected Spring4Shell attacks, while other entities have confirmed active exploitation in the United States. 

Spring4Shell was one of four flaws posted to the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) inventory of vulnerabilities known to be used in actual attacks yesterday. The agency has uncovered evidence of attacks on VMware products, in which the software vendor published security upgrades and alerts. 

Microsoft also released guidelines for detecting and preventing Spring4Shell attacks, as well as a statement that they are already analyzing exploitation attempts. Spring MVC and Spring WebFlux apps operating on JDK 9+ are affected by CVE-2022-22965, hence all Java Spring installations should be considered potential attack vectors. Spring Framework versions 5.3.18 and 5.2.2, as well as Spring Boot 2.5.12, were published by the vendor to address the RCE issue. 

As a result, upgrading to these versions or later is strongly advised. System administrators should also be aware of the remote code execution vulnerabilities in the CVE-2022-22963 and CVE-2022-22947 remote code execution flaws in the Spring Cloud Function and Spring Cloud Gateway. These flaws already have proof-of-concept exploits that are publicly available.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug CVE vulnerability DDOS Attacks Denial of Service vulnerability Edge Firefox PDFs Vulnerabilities and Exploits

After 17 years, the Zlib Crash-An-App Flaw Has Been Patched

 

Four years after the vulnerability was first found but left unpatched, the widely used Zlib data-compression library now has a patch to close a vulnerability that might be abused to crash apps and services. Tavis Ormandy, a bug hunter for Google Project Zero, informed the Open-Source-Software-Security mailing list about the programming error, CVE-2018-25032, which he discovered while trying to figure out what caused a compressor crash. 

"We reported it upstream, but it turns out the bug is already public since 2018, but the update never made it into a release. As far as they are aware, no CVE has ever been assigned to it." Ormandy stated. Furthermore, when Eideticom's Danilo Ramos discovered the defect in April 2018, it was 13 years old, implying this bug had been lurking for 17 years, waiting to be exploited. 

Zlib is a data-compression general-purpose library that is free, and legally unencumbered (i.e., not covered by any patents). It can be used on nearly any computer hardware and operating system. Anyone who has ever used softwares like PKZIP, WinRAR, 7-Zip, or any archiving utilities will attest to how data compression software has always been useful.

The primary goal of data compression is to save space, such as by reducing the amount of storage space required for backups or reducing data transfer bandwidth. Despite the computational overhead of squashing and expanding data before and after storing or sending it, compression frequently saves time and space by reducing the amount of data that must be moved back and forth between a fast storage location like RAM (memory) and a slow storage location like a disc, tape, or network. 

The patch was never included in a Zlib software update, and Ormandy showed a proof-of-concept exploit which works against both default and non-default compression schemes supported by the library just a few days after discovering the problem. This means any attempt to unpack maliciously designed compressed data may cause an application or network service to crash. 

In a nutshell, this is a memory corruption flaw: if user-supplied data is particularly formatted, software that relies on Zlib to compress it can crash and terminate due to an out-of-bounds write. The open-source Zlib is so extensively used that there are plenty of potential avenues for exploitation, which is why this problem is such a huge deal, in contrast to its nearly two-decade history. Zlib's algorithm, DEFLATE, which became an internet standard in 1996, is used to squash and expand data in a variety of file formats and protocols, and the software it handles these inputs to, will almost certainly use zlib. 

According to Sophos, these programs include Firefox, Edge, Chromium, and Tor, as well as the PDF reader Xpdf, video player VLC, Word and Excel compatible software LibreOffice, and picture editor GIMP. The Zlib problem, which was first discovered in 1998, enables data in a pending buffer to corrupt a distance symbol table. Out-of-bounds access can cause the program to crash and even create a denial of service. 

Users should install a non-vulnerable version of the zlib shared library, which they can usually get from the OS maker by downloading the latest updates, and developers should make sure the software packages don't rely on a vulnerable version of the reliance, pushing out app or service updates as needed.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Bug DDOS Attack Djano Exploits Flaws Fraud Password Hacking Scam Spoofing Vulnerabilities and Exploits

IP Spoofing Flaw Leaves Django REST Applications Vulnerable to DDoS Attacks

 

Attackers used an IP spoofing flaw in Django REST to bypass the framework's throttling function, which is designed to protect apps from mass requests. 

Mozilla, Red Hat, and Heroku, among others, use Django REST as a toolkit for constructing web APIs. It includes a throttling function that limits the number of API queries a client may make. Bot activity, denial-of-service attacks, and malicious actions such as brute-force attempts on login sites, one-time passwords, and password reset pages are all protected by this feature. 

IP addresses are used by Django REST to recognize clients and implement throttling request restrictions. Clients can, however, deceive the server and hide their IP address, according to security researcher Hosein Vita. 

He told The Daily Swig, “Django use WSGI (web server gateway interface) to communicate with web application and X-Forwarded-For HTTP header and REMOTE_ADDR WSGI variable are used to uniquely identify client IP addresses for throttling.” 

As a result, if the X-Forwarded-For header is included in a web request, the server will interpret it as the client's IP address. Vita was able to submit an endless number of requests with the same client by changing the X-Forwarded-For value. The approach only works for unauthenticated queries, according to Vita's bug report. 

APIs that require user authentication take both the user’s ID and the IP address into account when throttling, so IP spoofing is not enough to circumvent the request limits. According to Vita, the attack requires no specific server access, and an attacker who "can just see the website can abuse this method. 

Its immediate impact could be DDoS attacks caused by fraudulent requests flooding Django servers. However, it can also be used for other objectives, such as bypassing login page defences against brute-force attacks. Vita apparently identified the flaw while pen-testing an app with a one-time password login page. 

He stated, “You could log in [to the application] with OTP but I got blocked after many attempts. After my research, I used X-Forwarded-For header, and again I could send requests but after some attempts, again I got blocked.” 

The researcher added: “From my previous background in Django, I guessed it could get bypassed by changing the value of X-Forwarded-For header, and you could send 30 requests with each IP. Then I checked that in my Django API and it was correct.” 

The Django REST team was contacted by The Daily Swig for comment on the vulnerability. Meanwhile, Vita suggests using complementary strategies to protect applications from brute-force attacks. 

He added, “Always use other aspects of security measures as secondary methods. Use Captcha or other related methods to reduce attacks like this in important endpoints. For OTPs, use a token for each generated OTPs.”
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Attack Bug Conti Conti Ransomware Flaw Log4Shell Ransomware VMware Vulnerabilities and Exploits

Conti Ransomware Exploits Log4j Flaw to Hack VMware vCenter Servers

 

The critical Log4Shell exploit is being used by the Conti ransomware operation to obtain quick access to internal VMware vCenter Server instances and encrypt virtual machines. The group wasted no time in adopting the new attack vector, becoming the first "top-tier" operation to exploit the Log4j flaw. 

On December 9, a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit for CVE-2021-44228, also known as Log4Shell, was made public. A day later, numerous actors began scanning the internet in search of vulnerable systems. Cryptocurrency miners, botnets, and a new ransomware strain called Khonsari were among the first to leverage the flaw. 

By December 15, state-backed hackers and initial access brokers, who sell network access to ransomware gangs, had joined the list of threat actors using Log4Shell. Conti, one of today's largest and most prolific ransomware groups with tens of full-time members, seems to have developed an early interest in Log4Shell, viewing it as a potential attack channel on Sunday, December 12. 

The group began seeking fresh victims the next day, with the intention of lateral migration to VMware vCenter networks, as per Advanced Intelligence (AdvIntel), a cybercrime and hostile disruption firm. Log4Shell has impacted dozens of vendors, who have rushed to patch their products or provide workarounds and mitigations for customers. VMware is one among them, with 40 products listed as vulnerable. 

While the firm has suggested mitigations or fixes, a patch for the affected vCenter versions has yet to be released. Although vCenter servers are not generally accessible to the internet, there are a few scenarios in which an attacker may exploit the flaw.

“A malicious actor with network access to an impacted VMware product may exploit this issue to gain full control of the target system and/or perform a denial of service attack” – Vmware 

Log4Shell to move laterally 

"This is the first time this vulnerability entered the radar of a major ransomware group," according to a report shared with BleepingComputer. 

“The current exploitation led to multiple use cases through which the Conti group tested the possibilities of utilizing the Log4J exploit” - AdvIntel 

While most defenders are aimed at stopping Log4Shell attacks on Internet-connected devices, the Conti ransomware operation demonstrates how the vulnerability can be leveraged to attack internal systems that aren't as well-protected. 

Conti ransomware affiliates had already invaded the target networks and exploited vulnerable Log4j machines to obtain access to vCenter servers, according to the researchers. This indicates that Conti ransomware members used a different initial access vector to infect a network (RDP, VPN, email phishing) and are now utilising Log4Shell to move laterally on the network. 

Conti, the successor to the notorious Ryuk ransomware, is a Russian-speaking group that has been in the ransomware business for a long time. Hundreds of attacks have been carried out by the group, with its data leak site alone reporting over 600 victim firms who did not pay a ransom. Other firms who paid the actor to have their data decrypted are also included. The group has extorted more than $150 million from its victims in the last six months, according to AdvIntel.
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Vulnerable Networks
Bug Cisco Cloud Security Critical Flaws Device Security iOS Security flaw Vulnerabilities and Exploits Vulnerable Networks

Cisco SD-WAN Security Flaw Allows Root Code Execution

 

Cisco SD-WAN implementations are vulnerable to a high-severity privilege-escalation flaw in the IOS IE operating system, which could result in arbitrary code execution. 

Cisco's SD-WAN portfolio enables enterprises of all sizes to link different office sites over the cloud utilising a variety of networking technologies, including standard internet connections. Appliances at each location allow advanced analytics, monitoring, application-specific performance specifications and automation throughout a company's wide-area network. Meanwhile, IOS XE is the vendor's operating system that runs those appliances. 

The vulnerability (CVE-2021-1529) is an OS command-injection flaw that allows attackers to execute unexpected, harmful instructions directly on the operating system that would otherwise be inaccessible. It exists especially in the command-line interface (CLI) for Cisco's IOS XE SD-WAN software, and it could permit an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary commands with root privileges. 

According to Cisco’s advisory, posted this week, “The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation by the system CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges.” 

The alert further stated that the exploit method would comprise authenticating to a susceptible device and delivering "crafted input" to the system CLI. An attacker with successful compromise would be able to read and write any files on the system, execute operations as any user, modify system configurations, install and uninstall software, update the OS and/or firmware, and much more, including subsequent access to a corporate network. 

CVE-2021-1529 has a rating of 7.8 on the CVSS vulnerability-severity scale, and researchers and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have advised organisations to fix the problem as soon as possible. 

Greg Fitzgerald, the co-founder of Sevco Security, cautioned that some firms may still have outdated machines connected to their networks, which might provide a hidden threat with issues like these. 

He stated in the email, “The vast majority of organizations do an excellent job patching the vulnerabilities on the systems they know about. The problem arises when enterprises do not have complete visibility into their asset inventory, because even the most responsive IT and security teams can’t patch a vulnerability for an asset they don’t know is connected to their network. Abandoned and unknown IT assets are often the path of least resistance for malicious actors trying to access your network or data.”

This is solely the latest SD-WAN vulnerability addressed by Cisco this year. It patched many significant buffer-overflow and command-injection SD-WAN flaws in January, the most serious of which could be abused by an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on the affected server.
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