Headline
Microsoft Uncovers ‘BadPilot’ Campaign as Seashell Blizzard Targets US and UK
Russian GRU-linked hackers exploit known software flaws to breach critical networks worldwide, targeting the United States and the…
Russian GRU-linked hackers exploit known software flaws to breach critical networks worldwide, targeting the United States and the United Kingdom, and key sectors since 2021.
A hacking group with links to Russian intelligence has been silently compromising computer networks worldwide, including those in the United States and the United Kingdom, by taking advantage of known security vulnerabilities in widely used software.
This was revealed by Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence team on Wednesday, which has been tracking the activities of a subgroup within “Sandworm,” (aka Seashell Blizzard, UAC-0133, Blue Echidna, Sandworm, PHANTOM, BlackEnergy Lite, and APT44.), a hacking group tied to Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit. This subgroup, which Microsoft calls the “BadPilot campaign,” has been breaching networks since at least 2021 by exploiting vulnerabilities in internet-facing systems.
The hackers have been targeting a variety of sectors including energy, oil and gas, telecommunications, shipping, arms manufacturing, and even government organizations. Initially, their focus was on Ukraine, Europe, and parts of Asia and the Middle East. However, since early 2024, they have expanded their operations to include the U.S. and the U.K.
Their methods involve exploiting publicly known vulnerabilities in software like ConnectWise ScreenConnect, used for remote IT management, and Fortinet FortiClient EMS, a security software. By gaining an initial foothold through these weaknesses, the hackers can then move deeper into the network, steal credentials, and ultimately gain control of valuable systems. Here are the security vulnerabilities that Microsoft found being exploited by the group:
- OpenFire (CVE-2023-32315)
- JBOSS (exact CVE is unknown)
- Microsoft Outlook (CVE-2023-23397)
- Microsoft Exchange (CVE-2021-34473)
- Zimbra Collaboration (CVE-2022-41352)
- JetBrains TeamCity (CVE-2023-42793)
- Fortinet FortiClient EMS (CVE-2023-48788)
- Connectwise ScreenConnect (CVE-2024-1709)
Microsoft believes that while some of the targets seem random, these widespread breaches give Russia options to respond to changing strategic goals. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian-aligned hackers have been increasingly targeting international organizations that provide support to Ukraine or are of geopolitical importance. The subgroup is also thought to be connected to destructive cyberattacks in Ukraine since 2023.
Microsoft’s research reveals that this subgroup is not just about gaining access; it’s about maintaining it. Once inside a network, they deploy tools such as remote management software (RMM) and web shells to ensure long-term control.
For instance, by installing legitimate RMM agents like Atera Agent and Splashtop Remote Services, they can mimic authorized activity, making detection more challenging. The group is also known for web shell deployment, credential harvesting and DNS manipulation
Additionally, the use of custom utilities like ShadowLink, a tool that configures compromised systems as hidden services on the Tor network, further complicates efforts to trace their activities.
Seashell Blizzard’s attack chart (Via Microsoft)
****Who Is Sandworm?****
Linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, specifically Unit 74455, Sandworm is notorious for conducting disruptive cyberattacks. Their history includes incidents like the NotPetya attack in 2017, which caused billions in damages worldwide, and the FoxBlade operation in 2022, targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Industry experts are raising alarms about the implications of these findings. “This discovery is alarming for UK organisations as it highlights how Russian state-sponsored actors are exploiting CVEs to infiltrate networks, conduct surveillance and launch attacks,” warns Simon Phillips, CTO of SecureAck.
Even though the subgroup exploits publicly known vulnerabilities, their post-compromise tactics are becoming more advanced. The emergence of BadPilot only makes it harder to detect the activities of these already well-equipped and highly skilled Russian hackers.
That’s why organizations of all sizes must stay alert and aware of this and other cybersecurity threats. Employee training and additional security measures can help prevent breaches, even if they can’t completely stop Seashell Blizzard.
Related news
FBI and CISA warn of Medusa ransomware attacks impacting critical infrastructure. Learn about Medusa’s tactics, prevention tips, and…
Sandworm (aka Seashell Blizzard) has an initial access wing called "BadPilot" that uses standard intrusion tactics to spread Russia's tendrils around the world.
Sandworm (aka Seashell Blizzard) has an initial access wing called "BadPilot" that uses standard intrusion tactics to spread Russia's tendrils around the world.
Sandworm (aka Seashell Blizzard) has an initial access wing called "BadPilot" that uses standard intrusion tactics to spread Russia's tendrils around the world.
Sandworm (aka Seashell Blizzard) has an initial access wing called "BadPilot" that uses standard intrusion tactics to spread Russia's tendrils around the world.
Threat actors have been observed abusing Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) Transfer Acceleration feature as part of ransomware attacks designed to exfiltrate victim data and upload them to S3 buckets under their control. "Attempts were made to disguise the Golang ransomware as the notorious LockBit ransomware," Trend Micro researchers Jaromir Horejsi and Nitesh Surana said. "However, such is
As the Akira ransomware group continues to evolve its operations, Talos has the latest research on the group's attack chain, targeted verticals, and potential future TTPs.
Threat actors linked to the RansomHub ransomware group encrypted and exfiltrated data from at least 210 victims since its inception in February 2024, the U.S. government said. The victims span various sectors, including water and wastewater, information technology, government services and facilities, healthcare and public health, emergency services, food and agriculture, financial services,
A remote SQL injection vulnerability exists in FortiNet FortiClient EMS (Endpoint Management Server) versions 7.2.0 through 7.2.2 and 7.0.1 through 7.0.10. FortiClient EMS serves as an endpoint management solution tailored for enterprises, offering a centralized platform for overseeing enrolled endpoints. The SQL injection vulnerability is due to user controller strings which can be sent directly into database queries. FcmDaemon.exe is the main service responsible for communicating with enrolled clients. By default it listens on port 8013 and communicates with FCTDas.exe which is responsible for translating requests and sending them to the database. In the message header of a specific request sent between the two services, the FCTUID parameter is vulnerable to SQL injection. It can be used to enable the xp_cmdshell which can then be used to obtain unauthenticated remote code execution in the context of NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. Upgrading to either 7.2.3, 7.0.11 or above is recommended by Fo...
By Deeba Ahmed Veriti Research exposes surge in Androxgh0st attacks, exploiting CVEs and building botnets for credential theft. Patch systems, monitor for web shells, and use behavioral analysis to protect yourself. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Androxgh0st Malware Compromises Servers Worldwide for Botnet Attack
Hello everyone! In this episode, I will talk about the February updates of my open source projects, also about projects at my main job at Positive Technologies and interesting vulnerabilities. Alternative video link (for Russia): https://vk.com/video-149273431_456239140 Let’s start with my open source projects. Vulremi A simple vulnerability remediation utility, Vulremi, now has a logo and […]
By Deeba Ahmed Russian hackers, part of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, are using compromised Ubiquiti EdgeRouters to… This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: FBI Alert: Russian Hackers Target Ubiquiti Routers for Data, Botnet Creation
ConnectWise customers need to take immediate action to remediate a critical vulnerability.
JetBrains is alerting customers of a critical security flaw in its TeamCity On-Premises continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) software that could be exploited by threat actors to take over susceptible instances. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-23917, carries a CVSS rating of 9.8 out of 10, indicative of its severity. "The vulnerability may enable an unauthenticated
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of a new phishing campaign orchestrated by the Russia-linked APT28 group to deploy previously undocumented malware such as OCEANMAP, MASEPIE, and STEELHOOK to harvest sensitive information. The activity, which was detected by the agency between December 15 and 25, 2023, targets government entities
A researcher found two Microsoft vulnerabilities which could be combined to achieve zero-click remote code execution.
Technical details have emerged about two now-patched security flaws in Microsoft Windows that could be chained by threat actors to achieve remote code execution on the Outlook email service sans any user interaction. "An attacker on the internet can chain the vulnerabilities together to create a full, zero-click remote code execution (RCE) exploit against Outlook clients," Akamai security
By Waqas Polish authorities and FortiGuard Labs have issued a warning to customers about a new wave of cyberattacks associated with TeamCity. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Russian APT29 Hacked US Biomedical Giant in TeamCity-Linked Breach
Threat actors affiliated with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) have targeted unpatched JetBrains TeamCity servers in widespread attacks since September 2023. The activity has been tied to a nation-state group known as APT29, which is also tracked as BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), and The Dukes. It's notable for the supply chain
The final Patch Tuesday of 2023 is upon us, with Microsoft Corp. today releasing fixes for a relatively small number of security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software. Even more unusual, there are no known "zero-day" threats targeting any of the vulnerabilities in December's patch batch. Still, four of the updates pushed out today address "critical" vulnerabilities that Microsoft says can be exploited by malware or malcontents to seize complete control over a vulnerable Windows device with little or no help from users.
The notorious North Korea-linked threat actor known as the Lazarus Group has been attributed to a new global campaign that involves the opportunistic exploitation of security flaws in Log4j to deploy previously undocumented remote access trojans (RATs) on compromised hosts. Cisco Talos is tracking the activity under the name Operation Blacksmith, noting the use of three DLang-based
A North Korean state-sponsored threat actor tracked as Diamond Sleet is distributing a trojanized version of a legitimate application developed by a Taiwanese multimedia software developer called CyberLink to target downstream customers via a supply chain attack. "This malicious file is a legitimate CyberLink application installer that has been modified to include malicious code that downloads,
The threat actors linked to Kinsing have been observed attempting to exploit the recently disclosed Linux privilege escalation flaw called Looney Tunables as part of a "new experimental campaign" designed to breach cloud environments. "Intriguingly, the attacker is also broadening the horizons of their cloud-native attacks by extracting credentials from the Cloud Service Provider (CSP)," cloud
Known threat groups Diamond Sleet and Onyx Sleet focus on cyber espionage, data theft, network sabotage, and other malicious actions, Microsoft says.
North Korean threat actors are actively exploiting a critical security flaw in JetBrains TeamCity to opportunistically breach vulnerable servers, according to Microsoft. The attacks, which entail the exploitation of CVE-2023-42793 (CVSS score: 9.8), have been attributed to Diamond Sleet (aka Labyrinth Chollima) and Onyx Sleet (aka Andariel or Silent Chollima). It's worth noting that both the
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday added two security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog due to active exploitation, while removing five bugs from the list due to lack of adequate evidence. The vulnerabilities newly added are below - CVE-2023-42793 (CVSS score: 9.8) - JetBrains TeamCity Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
This Metasploit module exploits an authentication bypass vulnerability to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution against a vulnerable JetBrains TeamCity server. All versions of TeamCity prior to version 2023.05.4 are vulnerable to this issue. The vulnerability was originally discovered by SonarSource.
A critical security vulnerability in the JetBrains TeamCity continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) software could be exploited by unauthenticated attackers to achieve remote code execution on affected systems. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-42793, carries a CVSS score of 9.8 and has been addressed in TeamCity version 2023.05.4 following responsible disclosure on September 6,
Recently disclosed security flaws impacting Juniper firewalls, Openfire, and Apache RocketMQ servers have come under active exploitation in the wild, according to multiple reports. The Shadowserver Foundation said that it's "seeing exploitation attempts from multiple IPs for Juniper J-Web CVE-2023-36844 (& friends) targeting /webauth_operation.php endpoint," the same day a proof-of-concept (PoC)
Thousands of Openfire XMPP servers are unpatched against a recently disclosed high-severity flaw and are susceptible to a new exploit, according to a new report from VulnCheck. Tracked as CVE-2023-32315 (CVSS score: 7.5), the vulnerability relates to a path traversal vulnerability in Openfire's administrative console that could permit an unauthenticated attacker to access otherwise restricted
Categories: Exploits and vulnerabilities Categories: News Tags: Zoho ManageEngine Tags: CVE-2021-40539 Tags: Log4Shell Tags: CVE-2021-44228 Tags: CVE-2021-13379 Tags: ProxyShell Tags: CVE-2021-34473 Tags: CVE-2021-31207 Tags: CVE-2021-34523 Tags: CVE-2021-26084 Tags: Atlassian Tags: CVE-2022-22954 Tags: CVE-2022-22960 Tags: CVE-2022-26134 Tags: CVE-2022-1388 Tags: CVE-2022-30190 Tags: Follina What can the routinely exploited vulnerabilities of 2022 tell us, and what do we think will make it on to next year's list? (Read more...) The post 2022's most routinely exploited vulnerabilities—history repeats appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.
A four-year-old critical security flaw impacting Fortinet FortiOS SSL has emerged as one of the most routinely and frequently exploited vulnerabilities in 2022. "In 2022, malicious cyber actors exploited older software vulnerabilities more frequently than recently disclosed vulnerabilities and targeted unpatched, internet-facing systems," cybersecurity and intelligence agencies from the Five
Zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows Installers for the Atera remote monitoring and management software could act as a springboard to launch privilege escalation attacks. The flaws, discovered by Mandiant on February 28, 2023, have been assigned the identifiers CVE-2023-26077 and CVE-2023-26078, with the issues remediated in versions 1.8.3.7 and 1.8.4.9 released by Atera on April 17, 2023, and
Openfire is an XMPP server licensed under the Open Source Apache License. Openfire's administrative console, a web-based application, was found to be vulnerable to a path traversal attack via the setup environment. This permitted an unauthenticated user to use the unauthenticated Openfire Setup Environment in an already configured Openfire environment to access restricted pages in the Openfire Admin Console reserved for administrative users. This Metasploit module will use the vulnerability to create a new admin user that will be used to upload a Openfire management plugin weaponized with a java native payload that triggers remote code execution. This vulnerability affects all versions of Openfire that have been released since April 2015, starting with version 3.10.0. The problem has been patched in Openfire release 4.7.5 and 4.6.8, and further improvements will be included in the first version on the 4.8 branch, which is version 4.8.0.
An issue in Zimbra Collaboration ZCS v.8.8.15 and v.9.0 allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code via the sfdc_preauth.jsp component.
Microsoft has disclosed that it's detected a spike in credential-stealing attacks conducted by the Russian state-affiliated hacker group known as Midnight Blizzard. The intrusions, which made use of residential proxy services to obfuscate the source IP address of the attacks, target governments, IT service providers, NGOs, defense, and critical manufacturing sectors, the tech giant's threat
Openfire is an XMPP server licensed under the Open Source Apache License. Openfire's administrative console, a web-based application, was found to be vulnerable to a path traversal attack via the setup environment. This permitted an unauthenticated user to use the unauthenticated Openfire Setup Environment in an already configured Openfire environment to access restricted pages in the Openfire Admin Console reserved for administrative users. This vulnerability affects all versions of Openfire that have been released since April 2015, starting with version 3.10.0. The problem has been patched in Openfire release 4.7.5 and 4.6.8, and further improvements will be included in the yet-to-be released first version on the 4.8 branch (which is expected to be version 4.8.0). Users are advised to upgrade. If an Openfire upgrade isn’t available for a specific release, or isn’t quickly actionable, users may see the linked github advisory (GHSA-gw42-f939-fhvm) for mitigation advice.
An important security issue affects a range of versions of Openfire, the cross-platform real-time collaboration server based on the XMPP protocol that is created by the Ignite Realtime community. ### Impact Openfire's administrative console (the Admin Console), a web-based application, was found to be vulnerable to a path traversal attack via the setup environment. This permitted an unauthenticated user to use the unauthenticated Openfire Setup Environment in an already configured Openfire environment to access restricted pages in the Openfire Admin Console reserved for administrative users. ### Cause Path traversal protections were already in place to protect against exactly this kind of attack, but didn’t defend against certain non-standard URL encoding for UTF-16 characters, that were not supported by the embedded webserver that was in use at the time. A later upgrade of the embedded webserver included support for non-standard URL encoding of UTF-16 characters. The path traversa...
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of cyber attacks perpetrated by Russian nation-state hackers targeting various government bodies in the country. The agency attributed the phishing campaign to APT28, which is also known by the names Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, Sednit, and Sofacy. The email messages come with the subject line "
Security vendors urge organizations to fix the actively exploited bugs, in Microsoft Outlook and the Mark of the Web feature, immediately.
Microsoft disclosed 83 vulnerabilities across the company’s hardware and software line, including two issues that are actively being exploited in the wild, continuing a trend of zero-days appearing in Patch Tuesdays over the past few months.
Plus: Important patches from Apple, VMWare, Cisco, Zimbra, SAP, and Oracle.
This Metasploit module creates a .tar file that can be emailed to a Zimbra server to exploit CVE-2022-41352. If successful, it plants a JSP-based backdoor in the public web directory, then executes that backdoor. The core vulnerability is a path-traversal issue in the cpio command-line utility that can extract an arbitrary file to an arbitrary location on a Linux system (CVE-2015-1197). Most Linux distros have chosen not to fix it. This issue is exploitable on Red Hat-based systems (and other hosts without pax installed) running versions Zimbra Collaboration Suite 9.0.0 Patch 26 and below and Zimbra Collaboration Suite 8.8.15 Patch 33 and below.
Zimbra has released patches to contain an actively exploited security flaw in its enterprise collaboration suite that could be leveraged to upload arbitrary files to vulnerable instances. Tracked as CVE-2022-41352 (CVSS score: 9.8), the issue affects a component of the Zimbra suite called Amavis, an open source content filter, and more specifically, the cpio utility it uses to scan and extract
A flaw in unpatched Zimbra email servers could allow attackers to obtain remote code execution by pushing malicious files past filters.
Mitigation guidance provided while a patch is being developed
A severe remote code execution vulnerability in Zimbra's enterprise collaboration software and email platform is being actively exploited, with no patch currently available to remediate the issue. The shortcoming, assigned CVE-2022-41352, carries a critical-severity rating of CVSS 9.8, providing a pathway for attackers to upload arbitrary files and carry out malicious actions on affected
By Waqas Going by the name of Witchetty; the hacker group is targeting countries in Africa and the Middle East. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Chinese Hackers Hiding Malware in Windows Logo
APT group Witchetty (aka LookingFrog) has exploited the ProxyShell and ProxyLogon vulnerabilities to gain initial access and deploy new custom cyber tools against government agencies and a stock exchange.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday announced sweeping sanctions against ten individuals and two entities backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for their involvement in ransomware attacks at least since October 2020. The agency said the cyber activity mounted by the individuals is partially attributable to intrusion sets tracked
A slew of Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities (including ProxyLogon) fueled a surge in attacks targeting software flaws in 2021, but the trend has continued this year.
The stealthy crypter, active since 2015, has been used to deliver a wide range of information stealers and RATs at a rapid, widespread clip.
Hello everyone! This is the second episode of Vulnerability Management news and publications. In fact, this is a collection of my posts from the avleonovcom and avleonovrus telegram channels. Therefore, if you want to read them earlier, subscribe to these channels. Alternative video link (for Russia): https://vk.com/video-149273431_456239097 What’s in this episode: Microsoft released a propaganda […]
By Deeba Ahmed Cobalt Mirage is an Irani threat group believed to be linked to the Iranian Cobalt Illusion threat group,… This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Iran’s COBALT MIRAGE Threat Group Behind Ransomware Attacks in US