At least 1,200 Redis servers worldwide have been infected with "HeadCrab" cryptominers since 2021.

An unknown threat actor has been quietly mining Monero cryptocurrency on open source Redis servers around the world for years, using a custom-made malware variant that is virtually undetectable by agentless and conventional antivirus tools.

Since September 2021, the threat actor has compromised at least 1,200 Redis servers — that thousands of mostly smaller organizations use as a database or a cache — and taken complete control over them. Researchers from Aqua Nautilus, who spotted the campaign when an attack hit one of its honeypots, are tracking the malware as "HeadCrab."

**Sophisticated, Memory-Resident Malware**

In a blog post this week, the security vendor described HeadCrab as memory-resident malware that presents an ongoing threat to Internet-connected Redis servers. Many of these servers don't have authentication enabled by default because they are meant to run on secure, closed networks.

Aqua's analysis of HeadCrab showed that the malware is designed to take advantage of how Redis works when replicating and synchronizing data stored across multiple nodes within a Redis Cluster. The process involves a command that basically allows administrators to designate a server within a Redis Cluster as a "slave" to another "master" server within the cluster. Slave servers synchronize with the master server and perform a variety of actions, including downloading any modules that might be present on the master server. Redis modules are executable files that administrators can use to enhance the functionality of a Redis server.

Aqua's researchers found HeadCrab exploiting this process to load a cryptocurrency miner on Internet-exposed Redis systems. With the attack on its honeypot, the threat actor, for instance, used the legitimate SLAVEOF Redis command to designate the Aqua honeypot as the slave of an attacker-controlled master Redis server. The master server then initiated a synchronization process in which the threat actor downloaded a malicious Redis module containing the HeadCrab malware.

Asaf Eitani, security researcher at Aqua, says several features of HeadCrab suggest a high degree of sophistication and familiarity with Redis environments.

One big sign of that is the usage of the Redis module framework as a tool to perform malicious actions — in this case, downloading the malware. Also significant is the malware's use of the Redis API to communicate with an attacker-controlled command-and-control server (C2) hosted on what appeared to be a legitimate but compromised server, Eitani says. 

"The malware is specifically built for Redis servers, as it heavily relies on Redis Modules API usage to communicate with its operator," he notes.

HeadCrab implements sophisticated obfuscation features to remain hidden on compromised systems, executes more than 50 actions in a completely fileless fashion, and uses a dynamic loader to execute binaries and evade detection. "The threat actor is also modifying the normal behavior of the Redis service to obscure its presence and to prevent other threat actors from infecting the server by the same misconfiguration he used to gain execution," Eitani notes. "Overall, the malware is very complex and uses multiple methods to achieve an edge on defenders."

The malware is optimized for cryptomining and appears custom-designed for Redis servers. But it has built-in options to do a lot more, Eitani says. As examples, he points to HeadCrab's ability to steal SSH keys to infiltrate other servers and potentially steal data and also its ability to load a fileless kernel module to completely compromise a server's kernel.

Assaf Morag, threat lead analyst at Aqua, says the company has not been able to attribute the attacks to any known threat actor or group of actors. But he suggests that organizations using Redis servers should assume a full breach if they detect HeadCrab on their systems.

"Harden your environments by scanning your Redis configuration files, ensure the server requires authentication and doesn't allow "slaveof" commands if not necessary, and do not expose the server to the Internet if not necessary," Morag advises.

Morag says a Shodan search showed more than 42,000 Redis servers connected to the Internet. Of this, some 20,000 servers allowed some sort of access and can potentially be infected by a brute-force attack or vulnerability exploit, he says.

HeadCrab is the second Redis-targeted malware that Aqua has reported in recent months. In December, the security vendor discovered Redigo, a Redis backdoor written in the Go language. As with HeadCrab, Aqua discovered the malware when threat actors installed on a vulnerable Redis honeypot.

"In recent years, Redis servers have been targeted by attackers, often through misconfiguration and vulnerabilities," according to Aqua's blog post. "As Redis servers have become more popular, the frequency of attacks has increased."

Scores of Redis Servers Infested by Sophisticated Custom-Built Malware

The greatly expanding attack surface created by the cloud needs to be protected.

The challenges facing chief information security officers (CISOs) have evolved dramatically in the past decade. Today, they must align their security efforts — and budgets — with the business goals of their organization, which may range from maintaining customer confidence that their data is safe to protecting intellectual property from theft.

As a key member of the executive management team, CISOs often have board-level reporting responsibilities. They must manage a new and daunting level of technical complexity introduced by the cloud, where identities are virtually the first and last line of defense. And the job doesn't end there. To be successful, they must also put substantial effort into building a team with skills in a variety of disciplines, and choosing the right defensive technologies.

**The Technical Challenge**

The transition to remote or hybrid work models combined with accelerated cloud adoption has greatly expanded the attack surface CISOs must protect. Furthermore, they often have to deal with more than one cloud. The major providers — Amazon Web Services, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform — all have slightly different structures, procedures, requirements, and so on, all of which further increase the complexity of managing these sprawling architectures.

Data-center-oriented companies that have transitioned to the cloud obviously face a new set of security concerns that conventional firewalls were never designed to handle. Hence, the now commonly heard refrain "Identity is the new perimeter." This is certainly true. While firewalls and other network-based controls shouldn't be abandoned, CISOs need to focus on identity issues. The following three-step process can deliver results in this area quickly and efficiently.

*   **Rein in excess privileges****.** During a migration to the cloud, global privileges are often granted to everyone on the transition team. It's best to avoid this, but if it happens, privileges should be reviewed and limited after the transition. One good way to do this is to monitor which resources are being accessed by which individuals. If an individual isn't accessing a particular resource, the right to do so should be revoked.
*   **Correlate excess privileges and misconfigurations****.** Cloud misconfigurations are another serious risk. But when a privileged identity has access to a misconfigured cloud resource, the results can be disastrous. Fortunately, automated tools are now available to help detect misconfigurations, as well as excessive privileges, and remediate them to eliminate threats.
    
*   **Prioritize****.** There is never enough time or enough staff to correct every misconfiguration, so it's important to focus on those that are the greatest source of security risk. For example, remediating identity-based access threats to cloud storage buckets is critical for preventing data breaches. Monitoring for configuration errors that expose data through excessive, default, etc., permissions should be a top priority.

**The Human Challenge**

Securing cloud infrastructure demands unique skills, and finding qualified individuals to do the work is one of CISOs' biggest challenges. There are three key areas of competency that every cloud security team should possess:

*   **Architectural competence.** To assess an organization's security posture and create a road map for maturing it over time, security teams require a reference model. The CSA framework is an excellent resource, and there are several others available. Without a clear understanding of architectural concepts presented in industry standard security frameworks like CSA, it's difficult to reduce the cloud attack surface and easy to overlook blind spots.
*   **Cloud engineering.** The security team also needs to handle the day-to-day requirements of cloud security, which may include management, maintenance, and more. Competent cloud engineering is essential for "keeping the lights on" in the security sphere.
    
*   **Reactive capabilities.** Globally, cyberattacks occur at the rate of 30,000 per day. Every enterprise can expect incidents to occur on a regular basis, and security teams need specialists who can react quickly to limit — if not prevent — serious consequences.
    

The ideal makeup of a cloud security team spans network, cloud, and development specialists who can work collaboratively. The task of building a team with these capabilities is complicated by the fact that there is a shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity workers at the moment.

One approach that works well as a supplement to hiring is development from within through training. This may occur in-house or through third-party certification programs. Also, in choosing vendors, organizations should favor those whose offerings include a strong training component. If possible, CISOs may find ways to get non-security employees to work on some security tasks.

Once assembled, one of the problems that any security team will encounter is dealing with multi-cloud architectures, which are becoming the norm. Very few individuals are familiar with the tools, nomenclature, and security model of all three major cloud platforms. For this reason, many companies are turning to cloud native technologies that understand the nuances associated with securing different cloud platforms and simplify security tasks for users that may lack specialized training in AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.

To sum up, the challenges facing today's CISOs are largely driven by the cloud, which creates a greatly expanded attack surface that needs to be protected. Meanwhile, mastering the management model and tools used by each cloud platform requires security expertise that is in extremely short supply. Solutions are available that provide the visibility and platform knowledge needed to help security teams implement best practices for protecting their cloud infrastructure, while helping them up-skill analysts in the process.

How the Cloud Is Shifting CISO Priorities

Engineers can use the Cyber Resiliency Engineering Framework Navigator to visuzalize their cyber resiliency capabilities.

Cyberattacks are on the rise and enterprise defenders are protecting an increasingly expanding and complex attack surface. For many organizations, the focus is shifting away from prevention to resilience — to maintain essential business functions during an attack and recover quickly without losing too much downtime. Towards that end, MITRE released the Cyber Resiliency Engineering Framework (CREF) Navigator, a free visualization tool for engineers designing cyber resilient systems.

The Navigator helps organizations customize their cyber resiliency goals, objectives, and techniques, as aligned by NIST SP 800-160, which outlines standards on developing cyber-resilient systems. MITRE integrated the MITRE ATT&CK techniques and mitigations into the Navigator tool to help engineers understand how the systems they are designing could be targeted.

Resiliency is something that is engineered into the system – it doesn't just happen. The CREF framework guides engineers along four key principles: Anticipate (informed preparedness), Withstand (continue business functions even while under attack), Recover (restore business functions after an attack), and Adapt (change to minimize impact of attack).

The tool makes it possible to search and visualize the cyber resiliency framework so that engineers can "make educated and informed choices," Shane Steiger, MITRE's principal cybersecurity engineer, said in a statement.

Companies are looking at cyber resilience as part of their strategy to prevent incidents and mitigate losses when they occur, according to Cisco's annual Security Outcomes Report: 96% of executives surveyed named security resilience as high priority. The report identified some actions that helped increase resilience:

*   Companies that reported implementing a mature zero trust model saw a 30% increase in resilience score compared to those that had none.
*   Having advanced extended detection and response capabilities correlated to a 45% increase in resilience score for organizations over those that report having no detection and response solutions.
*   Converging networking and security into a mature, cloud-delivered secure access services edge (SASE) increased resiliency scores by 27%.

Automated support for organizations interested in building stronger defenses for their critical infrastructure will be available in a future version, MITRE says. "We plan to keep evolving the Navigator as the discipline of cyber resiliency engineering matures," MITRE's Steiger said in a statement.

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MITRE Releases Tool to Design Cyber Resilient Systems

**LONDON, UK – 1 February 2023 –** Leading cybersecurity provider Hornetsecurity has today launched two new tools – the QR Code Analyzer and Secure Links - to combat growing cyber threats. These launches come in response to a rise in fake QR codes and the ongoing threat of phishing, which represents 40% of all cyber threats.   

Hornetsecurity has also released a new automated mailbox migration solution, which helps partners efficiently and securely deploy and operate Microsoft 365 in the cloud for their customers – and remain safe from cyberattacks. In addition, the cybersecurity specialist has simplified its partner program to enable partners to work on projects and MSP business equally and centrally.   

**QR code phishing**

Research from Hornetsecurity’s Security Lab has discovered that cybercriminals are using QR codes in emails to obtain confidential data. To counter this latest threat, Hornetsecurity is expanding its Advanced Threat Protection and 365 Total Protection Suite for Microsoft 365 with the launch of its QR Code Analyzer. This unique technology determines whether QR codes link to malicious sites when scanned.   

The launch of Hornetsecurity’s ‘Secure Links’ functionality will also help limit cyber-attacks, especially ransomware attempts. This new service runs all email links through a secure analyzer before enabling the recipient to safely open the link. Both new technologies provide businesses and their employees with extra reassurance that their email communications are safe.   

Hornetsecurity CEO, Daniel Hofmann, said: “Hornetsecurity is committed to pre-empting and responding to new cybersecurity threats and customer concerns. Phishing attacks and fake QR codes are on the increase, so we are pleased to launch unique technologies that will combat these ever-growing threats. The QR Code Analyzer and Secure Links tools will benefit businesses by fighting cybersecurity attacks in a safe, reliable and cost-effective way.”  

**Migrate mailboxes in a safe and efficient way**

In response to challenges that Hornetsecurity partners have faced in transferring mailboxes from on-prem to Microsoft 365 cloud, the cybersecurity specialist has developed the Mailbox Migration Tool. This new offering enables Hornetsecurity partners to automatically migrate customers securely, efficiently and with major time-savings – in turn, enabling them to provide peace of mind by offering full security for Microsoft 365 via 365 Total Protection.  

**New simplified partner program** 

Hornetsecurity has also created a new simplified partner program. The newly adjusted program aims to unify partner levels and includes both managed service (MSP) and project business. These updates make entry barriers negligible, so partners can provide Hornetsecurity's services with minimal effort and investment.  

Hornetsecurity COO, Daniel Blank added: “Hornetsecurity has listened to our partners’ needs, which has led to the launch of our efficient and safe Mailbox Migration Tool, at the same time as our new partner program is rolled out.  

“This launch package is just the start of what will be a busy 2023 for Hornetsecurity as we monitor, learn and respond to new sophisticated cyberattacks, and continue to keep our customers’ data safe from ever-present threats.”   

**Further information**

For more information on Hornetsecurity’s new cybersecurity tools, please visit Advanced Threat Protection and

Hornetsecurity Combats QR Code Phishing With Launch of New Technology

Denver-based business secures Series A Funding through partnerships with Iron Gate Capital and Kozo Keikaku Engineering.

**DENVER****,** **Feb. 2, 2023** **/PRNewswire/ --** KoreLock, an emerging IoT Smart Lock technology company, is pleased to announce funding to support the development and expansion of its Smart Lock technology and software platform. Private equity firm Iron Gate Capital and engineering firm Kozo Keikaku Engineering, Inc. have invested in the company alongside management.

KoreLock serves a vast market of lock manufacturers, specialty lock brands, and software companies looking to convert their existing offline locks into cloud-connected Smart Locks.

"KoreLock addresses the market need for OEM Smart Lock technology with wireless integration to access control software services," said Grant Walter, KoreLock President and CEO. "Traditional lock companies have tried to develop their own Smart Locks but abandoned these efforts lacking the capabilities to do it themselves."

KoreLock specializes in embedded printed circuit board solutions that help lock manufacturers overcome the complexities of developing connected Smart Locks, reduce costs, and shorten their overall time-to-market.

"KoreLock offers a unique access control solution for the lock manufacturing industry that fits well with our focus on early-growth stage B2B technology companies," said AJ Dye, Partner, Iron Gate Capital.

KoreLock's patent-protected technology is embedded in over 50,000 locking devices in 65+ countries and has been tested and proven for over a decade.

"KoreLock is well-positioned for accelerated growth, anchored by partnerships with industry-leading lock brands worldwide," added Walter. "We are investing meaningfully to expand our team, solutions, and customers." 

**About KoreLock** 

KoreLock, Inc. is an IoT technology company that provides turnkey embedded Smart Lock solutions that enable manufacturers of door locks or access control hardware to build and sell connected locking devices. Korelock, Inc. is a privately held company based in Denver, Colorado.

**About Iron Gate Capital**  

Iron Gate Capital, LLC is a nationally recognized deal-by-deal private equity firm investing in market leading "early growth" technology companies on behalf of over 60 families. Iron Gate Capital is based in Boulder, Colorado.

**About Kozo Keikaku Engineering, Inc. (KKE)**  

KKE is a professional design and engineering firm that acts as a bridge between the academic and business worlds. KKE strives to solve various issues and challenges that society faces, utilizing its engineering expertise acquired through knowledge exchanges in diverse fields. KKE is based in Tokyo, Japan.

SOURCE KoreLock, Inc.

Korelock Launches IOT Smart Lock Technology Company

The Russia-linked LockBit ransomware group claims to be behind the attack that fouled automated transactions for dozens of clients of financial technology firm ION Group.

A cyberattack on a subsidiary of a Dublin-based financial technology and trading firm ION Group has disrupted transactions for dozens of major clients in both Europe and the United States, impacting the market for exchange-traded derivatives, the firm and other sources stated this week.

The attack, reportedly carried out by the Russia-linked LockBit ransomware group, has resulted in the trading company isolating servers and taking them offline. The company's subsidiary ION Cleared Derivatives, which provides order management and execution services, acknowledged the "cybersecurity event" in a statement on Jan. 31.

"The incident is contained to a specific environment, all the affected servers are disconnected, and remediation of services is ongoing," ION Cleared Derivatives said in a statement, adding that it would provide further updates as more information becomes available.

Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is tied to an underlying asset or a benchmark, such as the price of oil, portfolios of debt, or stocks. The four broad categories of derivatives are options, futures, swaps, and forwards, with massive sums traded every day. The value of assets traded as options and futures in North America, for example, totaled $30.1 trillion and $23.5 trillion, respectively, in the third quarter last year, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

The cyberattack on ION Cleared Derivatives has affected at least 42 of the company's clients, disrupting their processing of derivative trades, according to a Bloomberg News report. Several members of two large industry groups in the United States — the CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange — have also been impacted by the attack on the ION Group, an article in the Financial Times stated.

    

The LockBit group claims they have hacked ION Group's network. Source: Recorded Future

The Futures Industry Associations (FIA) — which represents one area of derivatives, futures contracts — is investigating the attack's effects on its members, the group said in a statement.

"FIA is aware of network issues caused by a cyber incident on certain ION Group systems which are impacting the trading and clearing of exchange traded derivatives by ION customers across global markets," the group stated. "We are working with impacted members, including clearing firms and exchanges, as well as market regulators and others, to assess the extent of the impact on trading, processing, and clearing."

**LockBit Claims Credit for Carnage**

The infamous LockBit group — responsible for recent attacks on the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and a host of chemical and industrial targets — posted a breach notice to its extortion site on Feb. 2 naming the ION Group as a victim. In addition, a ransom note, purportedly from the group, is currently circulating on private forums and names the ION Group as a compromised business, says Allan Liska, a senior analyst with threat intelligence firm Recorded Future.

How the LockBit group gained access to the ION Group's subsidiary and the extent of the damage are questions that will likely take a while to answer, Liska says.

"Unfortunately, not a lot is known yet about the tools used in the attack," he says. "The ION Group is likely still assessing the damage and conducting incident response and disaster recovery, so they may not know the full scope yet."

The LockBit cybercrime group uses a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model, creating the tools to compromise and infect victims and then relying on affiliates to infect companies, healthcare organizations, and government agencies. While ransomware groups relied in the past on encrypting data and holding the keys for ransom, the modern variant of the scheme typically also steals sensitive data and threatens its release.

**How Widespread Is the ION Attack's Impact?**

The immediate impact to clients of ION Cleared Derivatives' services is that the post-trade processes — such as "trade matching and keeping track of risk and margin requirements" activities normally automated by the company's services — have to be completed manually, according to the Financial Times.

Yet the service outage is also affecting markets in the United States and parts of Asia, underscoring the interconnectedness of today's financial and technological infrastructure.

"ION Group is used by financial institutions all over the world, so this attack is likely having wide-ranging impact on those institutions," Record Future's Liska says. "This is, unfortunately, an increasingly common problem with ransomware attacks: The attack doesn't just impact the affected organization but every organization that organization works with."

While the attack has had widespread — and in some cases, surprising — effects, a senior US Treasury official stated that the disruption to the ION Cleared Derivative's platform does not pose a "systemic risk to the financial sector," according to Bloomberg News.

Cyberattack on Fintech Firm Disrupts Derivatives Trading Globally

Examining some key examples of recently found fraud sites that target the lucrative retail shoe industry helps us understand how brand impersonation sites evolve.

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6 Examples of the Evolution of a Scam Site

The group's wanton attacks demonstrate that business email compromise is everything a hacker can want in one package: low risk, high reward, quick, easy, and low effort.

Business email compromise (BEC) has become one of the most popular methods of financially motivated hacking. And over the past year, one group in particular has demonstrated just how quick, easy, and lucrative it really is.

In a Feb. 1 blog post, Crane Hassold, director of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security, profiled "Firebrick Ostrich" a threat actor that's been performing BEC at a near-industrial scale. Since April 2021, the group has carried out more than 350 BEC campaigns, impersonating 151 organizations and utilizing 212 malicious domains in the process.

This volume of attacks is made possible by the group's wholesale gunslinging approach. Firebrick Ostrich doesn't discriminate much when it comes to targets, or gather exceptional intelligence in order to craft the perfect phishing bait. It throws darts at a wall because, evidently, when it comes to BEC at scale, that's enough.

"BEC is attractive to bad actors," Sean McNee, CTO at DomainTools, explains to Dark Reading, "due to the lower barriers to entry than malware, less risk, faster scaling opportunities, and way more profit potential to higher echelons than other methods of attack."

These factors may explain why such attacks are "absolutely _the_ emerging trend," as Hassold tells Dark Reading, leaving even ransomware in the dust. "There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of these groups out there."

**Firebrick Ostrich's BEC M.O.**

Firebrick Ostrich almost always targets organizations based in the United States. Beyond that, though, there doesn't appear to be a pattern — it dips into retail and education, transportation and healthcare, and everything in between.

The group specializes in third-party impersonations, reflecting a shift in BEC more generally. "Since its inception, BEC has been synonymous with CEO impersonation," Hassold notes. But more recently, "threat actors have identified third parties as a sort of soft target in the B2C attack chain. More than half of the B2C attacks that we see now are impersonating third parties instead of internal employees."

The degree of reconnaissance Firebrick Ostrich requires to perform such an attack is frustratingly minimal. All that's needed is an understanding that two organizations connect to one another somehow — most often, that one provides a product or service to the other.

Such information is publicly available on many government websites. In commerce, it might be found on a vendor's website, on a landing page gallery of customer logos. If not, a simple Google search might do the trick. It's enough to go on, Hassold says, even if "they haven't compromised an account or a document that provides them with insight into payments that are going back and forth."

Having identified a vendor, the group registers a lookalike Web domain, and a series of email addresses for imaginary employees and executives in the vendor's finance department. "Firebrick Ostrich copies all of the additional fake accounts on their emails to make it look like they are including others in the conversation," Abnormal Security researchers wrote in the analysis, "which adds credibility and social proof to the message."

Finally the group sends the email, impersonating an accounts payable specialist, to the accounts payable division at the target organization. The note will typically begin with some flattery, like how the vendor "greatly appreciates you as a valued customer and we want to thank you for your continued business."

Firebrick Ostrich doesn't seek out bank information from its victims. Rather, its operatives request to update their own (the "vendor's") bank details, for future payments.

"These attackers are playing a longer game," according to the report, "hoping that a simple request now will result in a payment to their redirected account with the next payment." The group always opts for ACH, as it requires only an account and routing number — no other identifying information — to send a lump sum.

For good measure, these emails also include a vague inquiry regarding outstanding payments.

Source: Abnormal Security

What's notable in all this is how quick and easy the entire attack flow is. Case in point: Abnormal Security found that in 75% of cases, Firebrick Ostrich registered a malicious vendor domain within just two days of sending an opening phishing email, and 60% of the time within 24 hours.

**BEC Is Big-Time Cybercrime**

In 2018, the FBI released a public service announcement about a "12 billion dollar scam." From October 2013 to May 2018, the agency estimated, organizations worldwide had lost about $12.5 billion to BEC.

That seemed like a lot at the time. One year later, though, the Feds released a new PSA. Now, BEC was a $26 billion arena. And in 2022, a third PSA appeared, declaring BEC a $43 billion scam.

These numbers may even be underestimated, considering the cases that go unreported.

Firebrick Ostrich is a prime example of why BEC is so popular, according to Abnormal Security: "They have seen massive success, even without the need to compromise accounts or do in-depth research on the vendor-customer relationship." The campaigns are effective yet quick, low effort, with a low barrier to entry.

BEC can also be, as McNee calls it, a "'gateway drug' to other illicit, illegal activities" like ransomware.

"There’s an accessible underground economy of suppliers that make account takeover fairly trivial, so if a BEC-focused bad actor is interested in pivoting to other activities or selling the access they gain to others, they can easily do so." This relationship goes both ways, with ransomware double extortions feeding follow-on BEC attacks.

To prevent a costly compromise, Hassold recommends that organizations "have a really structured and rigid process for any financial transaction. Make sure that the account change is confirmed with the actual party offline, in a separate communication thread, before the change is actually implemented."

Most of all, employees must be aware of phishing tactics. "A key reason BEC attacks are difficult to defend against," McNee adds, "is that they attack people and not technology per se. Everyone is susceptible to social engineering because we’re all human."

Rising ‘Firebrick Ostrich’ BEC Group Launches Industrial-Scale Cyberattacks

Analysts find that 98% of QNAP NAS are vulnerable to CVE-2022-27596, which allows unauthenticated, remote SQL code injection.

A critical security vulnerability in QNAP's QTS operating system for network-attached storage (NAS) devices could allow cyberattackers to inject malicious code into devices remotely, with no authentication required.

According to researchers from security firm Censys, more than 30,000 hosts are running a vulnerable version of the QNAP-based system as of press time, meaning that approximately 98% of these devices could be attacked.

The issue (CVE-2022-27596) is a SQL injection problem that affects QNAP QTS devices running versions below 5.0.1.2234, and QuTS Hero versions below h5.0.1.2248. It carries a score of 9.8 out of 10 on the CVSS vulnerability-severity scale.

In its advisory this week, QNAP said the bug has a low attack complexity, which, when combined with the popularity of QNAP NAS as a target for Deadbolt ransomware and other threats, could make for imminent exploitation in the wild. And unfortunately, according to Censys, it's a target-rich environment out there.

"Censys has observed 67,415 hosts with indications of running a QNAP-based system; unfortunately, we could only obtain the version number from 30,520 hosts," the firm explained in a blog post on Feb. 1. "We found that of the 30,520 hosts with a version, only 557 were running \[patched versions\], meaning 29,968 hosts could be affected by this vulnerability."

To protect themselves, companies should upgrade their devices to QTS version 5.0.1.2234 and QuTS Hero h5.0.1.2248.

"If the exploit is published and weaponized, it could spell trouble to thousands of QNAP users," Censys researchers warned. "Everyone must upgrade their QNAP devices immediately to be safe from future ransomware campaigns."

Patch Critical Bug Now: QNAP NAS Devices Ripe for the Slaughter

The total number of 61,000 open vulnerabilities, including 1,700 critical ones that have been open for 180+ days, exposes businesses to potential attacks.

Indusface's research on 1,400+ Web apps, mobile apps, and APIs revealed that open vulnerabilities remain cybercriminals' most significant attack vector.

According to the report, 829 million attacks were blocked on the AppTrana WAF in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 79% increase from the third quarter.

The alarming finding is that 61,713 open vulnerabilities were found, which is a 50% jump from the third quarter. The number of open vulnerabilities directly relates to the increased threat actors.

How can you protect them? The best option is to fix known vulnerabilities using virtual patching at the WAF level while blocking attacks.

**Critical Vulnerabilities Found on Applications**

While any vulnerability carries a risk to your business, here are the top 10 high/critical vulnerabilities that hackers attempted to exploit during the fourth quarter of 2022:

*   Server-side request forgery
*   HTML injection
*   Cross-site scripting (XSS)
*   TLS/SSL server certificate will expire soon
*   Script source code disclosure
*   SQL injection
*   SSL certificate common name mismatch
*   TLS/SSL server certificate expired
*   Untrusted TLS/SSL server certificate
*   Insecure Direct Object References

Prioritize addressing these vulnerabilities if you have not done so already.

**Cost of Vulnerabilities**

A single vulnerability can invite thousands of cybersecurity troubles. Poodle, Heartbleed, EternalBlue, and Shellshock are just a few of the vulnerabilities that open businesses to security threats.

The report found 31% of vulnerabilities have been open for 180+ days. And 1,700+ of these are rated as critical and high vulnerabilities.

So, what happens if you don't patch the vulnerabilities? A failure to maintain this responsibility could have severe effects, including potential security breaches.

Back in 2017, the massive Equifax security breach made headlines. Hackers exploited the known vulnerability CVE-2017-5638 in their app framework and gained access to the company's system.

This breach exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of 147 million people. Two years after the breach, the company said it spent $1.4 billion on cleanup costs and revamping its security program. Equifax agreed to pay up to $700 million to settle claims related to the breach.

The breach's total cost is likely higher than the reported settlements and expenses. It also includes intangible costs such as loss of trust, brand reputation, and long-term impact on the business.

**Managing Vulnerabilities With Virtual Patching**

Security patches play a vital role in dealing with vulnerabilities. They patch up the security gaps and resolve the risks. After all, successful exploitation means an insecure configuration or missing security control.

The patching process can, at times, be challenging. Many companies turn to virtual patching to protect their apps on the Web application firewall (WAF) when a system can't be patched immediately.

Virtual patching is a vulnerability shield that secures apps during your risk window and beyond. It enables you to scale your coverage and responses accordingly with appropriate defense, which can be applied in minutes or hours. Thereby, it reduces the risk of exposure to vulnerabilities.

Virtual patching is attained by implementing a security policy layer in the WAF. It eliminates application vulnerabilities without changing the codebase.

Companies can leverage virtual patching in two ways to mitigate vulnerabilities:

1.  Core rules
2.  Custom rules

The Indusface report found that the WAF core rule set blocks 40% of requests, and custom rules block 60%.

**Why Are the Custom Rules Gaining Momentum?**

Core rules are predefined, standardized, based on industry best practices, and designed to protect against known vulnerabilities. Security experts typically create these rules. Core rules are easy to implement and can provide high protection.

Since most dev teams work on sprints that are a few weeks long, vulnerabilities keep getting added with the changing code.

Most companies leverage weekly scans and periodic penetration testing on applications. Since fixing these on code will be long and arduous, product owners rely on WAF's custom rules to plug these vulnerabilities while their dev team focuses on shipping features.

Whenever the teams get to a security-focused sprint, they fix these vulnerabilities in the code.

Virtual patching is also used as a risk mitigation mechanism. For instance, we have observed that geofencing is gaining popularity in the custom rule category as application owners look to limit traffic from geographies where the application is not designed to be used. The other example is blacklisting or whitelisting IPs that are used to allow traffic to the application.

**False Positive Monitoring**

While the power of custom rules is undisputed, they also add the burden of monitoring applications for false positives.

In talking to several security leaders, one consistent theme that we keep hearing about is the lack of skilled security practitioners who can manage a complex application like a WAF/WAAP.

The other challenge is the worsening economy; security teams are increasingly being asked to do more with less.

We are seeing an increased trend of product owners relying on managed services to help with virtual patches and guarantee no false positives.

**Conclusion**

If the attackers discover a piece of exploitable code, the next step is taking advantage of the vulnerability.

The sooner you deploy the virtual patching, the sooner attackers look elsewhere. Keep your WAF running to ensure your security and bottom line.

**About the Author**

    

Venky is an application security technologist who built the new-age Web application scanner and cloud WAF AppTrana at Indusface as a founding CTO. Currently, he spends his time on driving product road map, customer success, growth, and technology adoption for US businesses.

Source

DARKReading