The Russia-linked nation-state threat actor tracked as APT28 weaponized a security flaw in the Microsoft Windows Print Spooler component to deliver a previously unknown custom malware called GooseEgg.
The post-compromise tool, which is said to have been used since at least June 2020 and possibly as early as April 2019, leveraged a now-patched flaw that allowed for

Russia's APT28 Exploited Windows Print Spooler Flaw to Deploy 'GooseEgg' Malware

The threat actor is deploying multiple connections into victim environments to maintain persistence and steal data.

Source: RooM the Agency via Alamy Stock Photo

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group known as ToddyCat is collecting data on an industrial scale from government and defense targets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Researchers from Kaspersky tracking the campaign described the threat actor this week as using multiple simultaneous connections into victim environments to maintain persistence and to steal data from them. They also discovered a set of new tools that ToddyCat (which is a common name for the Asian palm civet) is using to enable data collection from victim systems and browsers.

**Multiple Traffic Tunnels in ToddyCat Cyberattacks**

"Having several tunnels to the infected infrastructure implemented with different tools allow \[the\] attackers to maintain access to systems even if one of the tunnels is discovered and eliminated," Kaspersky security researchers said in a blog post this week. "By securing constant access to the infrastructure, \[the\] attackers are able to perform reconnaissance and connect to remote hosts."

ToddyCat is a likely Chinese-language speaking threat actor that Kaspersky has been able to link to attacks going back to at least December 2020. In its initial stages, the group appeared focused on just a small number of organizations in Taiwan and Vietnam. But the threat actor quickly ramped up attacks following the public disclosure of the so-called ProxyLogon vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server in February 2021. Kaspersky believes ToddyCat might have been among a group of threat actors that targeted the ProxyLogon vulnerabilities even prior to February 2021, but says it has not found evidence yet to back up that conjecture.  

In 2022, Kaspersky reported finding ToddyCat actors using two sophisticated new malware tools dubbed Samurai and Ninja to distribute China Chopper — a well-known commodity Web shell used in the Microsoft Exchange Server attacks — on systems belonging to victims in Asia and Europe.

**Maintaining Persistent Access, Fresh Malware**

Kaspersky's latest investigation into ToddyCat's activities showed the threat actor's tactic to maintain persistent remote access to a compromised network is to establish multiple tunnels to it using different tools. These include using a reverse SSH tunnel to gain access to remote network services; using SoftEther VPN, an open source tool that enables VPN connections via OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, and other protocols; and using a lightweight agent (Ngrok) to redirect command-and-control from an attacker-controlled cloud infrastructure to target hosts in the victim environment.

In addition, Kaspersky researchers found ToddyCat actors to be using a fast reverse proxy client to enable access from the Internet to servers behind a firewall or network address translation (NAT) mechanism.

Kaspersky's investigation also showed the threat actor using at least three new tools in its data-collection campaign. One of them is malware that Kaspersky had dubbed "Cuthead" that allows ToddyCat to search for files with specific extensions or words on the victim network, and to store them in an archive.

Another new tool that Kaspersky found ToddyCat using is "WAExp." The malware's task is to search for and collect browser data from the Web version of WhatsApp. 

"For users of the WhatsApp web app, their browser local storage contains their profile details, chat data, the phone numbers of users they chat with and current session data," Kaspersky researchers said. WAExp allows the attacks to gain access to this data by copying the browser's local storage files, the security vendor noted.  

The third tool meanwhile is dubbed "TomBerBil," and allows ToddyCat actors to steal passwords from Chrome and Edge browsers.

"We looked at several tools that allow the attackers to maintain access to target infrastructures and automatically search for and collect data of interest," Kaspersky said. "The attackers are actively using techniques to bypass defenses in an attempt to mask their presence in the system."

The security vendor recommends that organizations block IP addresses of cloud services that provide traffic tunneling and limit the tools that administrators can use to access hosts remotely. Organizations also need to either remove or closely monitor any unused remote access tools in the environment and encourage users not to store passwords in their browsers, Kaspersky said.

**About the Author(s)**

Jai Vijayan is a seasoned technology reporter with over 20 years of experience in IT trade journalism. He was most recently a Senior Editor at Computerworld, where he covered information security and data privacy issues for the publication. Over the course of his 20-year career at Computerworld, Jai also covered a variety of other technology topics, including big data, Hadoop, Internet of Things, e-voting, and data analytics. Prior to Computerworld, Jai covered technology issues for The Economic Times in Bangalore, India. Jai has a Master's degree in Statistics and lives in Naperville, Ill.

ToddyCat APT Is Stealing Data on 'Industrial Scale'

An open direct vulnerability in the Nespresso Web domain lets attackers bypass detection as they attempt to steal victims' Microsoft credentials.

Source: GOIMAGES via Alamy Stock Photo

A phishing campaign exploiting a bug in Nespresso's website has been able to evade detection by taking advantage of security tools that fail to look for malicious nested or hidden links.

The campaign starts with a phishing email that appears to have been sent from an employee with Bank of America, with a message to "please check your recent \[Microsoft\] sign-in activity." If a target clicks, they are then directed to a legitimate but infected URL controlled by Nespresso. according to research today from Perception Point.

Because the address is legitimate, the hijacked Nespresso site triggers no security warnings, the report explained. The Nespresso URL then delivers a malicious .html file doctored up to look like a Microsoft login page, intended to capture the victim's credentials, the Perception Point team added.

The attackers are making use of an open redirect vulnerability in the coffee giant's webpage, the researchers explained: "Open redirect vulnerabilities occur when an attacker manages to redirect users to an external, untrusted URL through a trusted domain. This is possible when a website or URL allows data to be controlled from an external source."

Attackers know that some security vendors "only inspect the initial link, not digging further to discover any hidden or embedded links," they added. "With this knowledge, it makes sense that the attacker would host the redirect on Nespresso, as the legitimate domain would likely be sufficient to bypass many security vendors, detecting only the reputable URL and not the subsequent malicious ones."

This particular campaign has been launched from several different sender domains, but it consistently uses the infected Nespresso URL and the fake Bank of America email in the cyberattacks, the report added. According to Perception Point, the redirect has not yet been fixed.

“We were alerted of a phishing attempt, where a modified redirection website link disguised as a Nespresso address was used to try to obtain personal credentials from people (not necessarily Nespresso customers)," a spokesperson tells Dark Reading. "We can confirm that our customers’ data has not been compromised in any way. We ask everyone to be aware and vigilant of emails that redirect them to unknown websites.”

Nespresso Domain Serves Up Steamy Cup of Phish, No Cream or Sugar

Microsoft has revealed that North Korea-linked state-sponsored cyber actors has begun to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make its operations more effective and efficient.
"They are learning to use tools powered by AI large language models (LLM) to make their operations more efficient and effective," the tech giant said in its latest report on East Asia hacking groups.
The company

Microsoft Warns: North Korean Hackers Turn to AI-Fueled Cyber Espionage

PRESS RELEASE

TEL AVIV, Israel -- (BUSINESS WIRE)-- Miggo, a cybersecurity startup introducing the first Application Detection and Response (ADR) platform, announced today $7.5 million in seed funding led by global cybersecurity VC firm YL Ventures with the participation of CCL (Cyber Club London), cybersecurity leaders from Elastic and Everon and former CISOs of Google, Zscaler and Nike. Miggo's ADR platform addresses a critical gap in application security by enabling security teams to detect and respond to targeted application attacks in real-time.

2023 saw a rise in high-profile application attacks that went undetected by traditional tools. The MOVEit, Microsoft SharePoint, Ivanti Gateway and GoAnywhere breaches highlight critical AppSec blind spots of application behavior in runtime and how attackers are hedging their bets on this well-known, ongoing security gap. According to Justin Somaini, Partner at YL Ventures and former CISO of Unity, SAP and Yahoo!, “Applications in production constitute one of the few true blind spots of today’s security programs. Last year’s incidents alone underscore how critically we need to secure the application layer. This is a space that still needs a lot of innovation to address what traditional tools cannot.”

Today, applications are the primary target of nearly 80% of data attacks, according to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report. More recent shifts to distributed application architecture, which requires multiple chains of trust between different services, have further broadened the domain’s threat landscape. Attackers can manipulate flows between services without detecting existing security sensors like EDR, WAF and CNAPP tools. The only way to identify such malicious activity is with direct views into applications while they're running.

Under the leadership of Daniel Shechter, CEO and co-founder, and Itai Goldman, CTO and co-founder, Miggo developed a platform that analyzes interactions and data flows within applications to detect and mitigate attacks before they can escalate into breaches. "We need to proactively tackle this massive and largely unseen attack surface. Not only do we need precise detection and response for unexpected behaviors directly in live application environments, but also insight and understanding into the inner workings of today’s distributed applications as they run," explained Shechter.

Miggo's technology precisely discovers and maps the architecture of distributed applications to establish behavioral baselines and monitor for deviations from intended design or code execution flows. Leveraging live in-application context, Miggo determines if a deviation indicates that the application is exploitable, under active exploitation or backdoored, and initiates targeted mitigations to contain breaches by pinpointing the offender and affected areas to recommend precise remediation strategies.

The combined ability to detect live threats to applications and respond within the applications themselves are key innovations, according to CISO Mike Melo. “Miggo is finally providing transparency for our most significant attack vector with the exact tools each stakeholder requires to protect and defend mission-critical assets. ADR is the unified solution we need to not only give us application-layer visibility and control but also dramatically lower our mean time to detect and respond to application attacks,” he said.

Discover how Miggo can safeguard your applications against the next generation of cyber threats. Visit miggo.io for more information and to schedule a demo.

About Miggo  
Miggo is the first Application Detection and Response platform, providing the visibility, response and understanding you need to prevent application breaches. Using in-application context to shed light on your biggest attack surface, Miggo’s ADR enables businesses to monitor how applications behave in runtime and stop attackers from manipulating chains of trust between distributed services. With Miggo, monitor application weak spots and identify and mitigate attacks in real-time. Visit miggo.io for more information.

About YL Ventures  
YL Ventures funds and supports visionary cybersecurity entrepreneurs from seed to scale to help them evolve transformative ideas into market-leading companies. The firm accelerates company growth with tailored support through its powerful network of Chief Information Security Officers, global industry leaders and a dedicated team of multidisciplinary experts. Based in Silicon Valley, New York and Tel Aviv, YL Ventures manages five funds with $800M in total AUM. The firm has a track record of seeding cybersecurity unicorns such as Axonius and Orca Security and its portfolio companies have been successfully acquired by high-profile, global industry leaders including Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Okta and Proofpoint. In 2022, YL Ventures ranked 8th out of over 250 venture capital firms in PitchBook’s prestigious Global Manager Performance Score League Tables and was the only cybersecurity-focused VC to secure a top 10 spot.

Miggo Launches Application Detection and Response (ADR) Solution

Chinese actors are ready and poised to do "devastating" damage to key US infrastructure services if needed, he said.

Source: KaimDH via Shutterstock

FBI Director Christopher Wray this week delivered what might be the starkest warning yet on the threat that China-backed hackers pose to US national and economic security.

In remarks at a Vanderbilt University\-hosted summit on modern conflict and emerging threats, Wray described Chinese hackers as outnumbering FBI personnel by at least 50 to 1 and standing poised to "wreak havoc" on US critical infrastructure at a moment's notice.

**Immediate and Imminent Threat**

Stakeholders across private industry and government need to treat the threat as immediate and implement plans to fortify networks and respond to attacks now, the nation's leading law enforcement official said.

"The \[People's Republic of China\] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage," Wray said. "Its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America's will to resist."

Wray's comments build on repeated warnings in recent months from US officials — and the FBI itself — about a dangerous and systematic escalation in Chinese targeting of networks and systems belonging to organizations in critical infrastructure sectors. Wray and others have repeatedly described the intrusions as attempts by Chinese hackers to methodically pre-position themselves for attacks designed to disrupt telecommunications, energy, water, technology and other critical infrastructure services when needed.

China's cyberattackers are "giving the Chinese government the ability to wait for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow," Wray said. Beijing, he added, is building a capability to deter any US attempts to intervene in the event of a crisis between China and Taiwan.

**Multifaceted Attacks**

The ongoing attempts by Chinese hackers to establish and maintain a presence on critical infrastructure adds to the pressure that US organizations have had to deal with for more than a decade from China-backed cyber-espionage and cybercriminal groups. To support economic initiatives like Made in China 2025 and multiple separate five-year plans, Beijing has for years deployed cyber groups to systematically steal intellectual property and trade secrets from companies in key competitive sectors, Wray said.

Targets have included organizations in fields as diverse as biotech, aviation, artificial intelligence, agriculture, and healthcare. "The PRC is engaged in the largest and most sophisticated theft of intellectual property and expertise in the history of the world," Wray noted. "You could close your eyes and pull an industry or sector out of a hat and, chances are, Beijing has targeted it."

In recent months, the Volt Typhoon group has been one of the most visible faces of what the US regards as China's untrammeled aggression in cyberspace. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and security vendors have, on multiple occasions this year, reported on the threat actor's intrusions into US critical infrastructure networks and operational technology environments with a view to gaining a presence on these networks and lying in wait for instructions to attack. Last year, The New York Times identified Volt Typhoon hitting military bases, prompting worried Biden administration officials to admit that the threat actor's malware was more endemic on US networks than previously thought.

**"Scattershot" and "Indiscriminate" Attacks**

Wray pointed to widespread attacks in 2021 that exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server as one of the "most egregious examples" of China's "scattershot, indiscriminate, cyber campaigns," in recent memory. Those attacks involved China-backed Hafnium group deploying Web shells for remote access on thousands of corporate systems. The FBI — in an unprecedented move at the time — later obtained a court order to remotely remove those Web shells from thousands of infected systems before the threat actor could use them to inflict further damage.

In response to the growing threat, the FBI has mobilized its own field offices in the US and around the world to address the threat, Wray said. The agency is also working with US Cyber Command, the CIA, and foreign law enforcement agencies to disrupt Chinese hacking operations. The effort has included going after known hackers, malware developers, and the owners of support infrastructure like bulletproof hosting services and money launderers.

Private sector organizations can do their part by being more diligent about their cyber defense and response mechanisms and by sharing information that can prevent nascent threats from "metastasizing to other sectors" and businesses, Wray said. "We've seen the best outcomes in situations where a company made a habit of reaching out to their local FBI field office even before there was any indication of a problem, because that put everyone on the same page and contributed to the company's readiness."

**About the Author(s)**

Jai Vijayan is a seasoned technology reporter with over 20 years of experience in IT trade journalism. He was most recently a Senior Editor at Computerworld, where he covered information security and data privacy issues for the publication. Over the course of his 20-year career at Computerworld, Jai also covered a variety of other technology topics, including big data, Hadoop, Internet of Things, e-voting, and data analytics. Prior to Computerworld, Jai covered technology issues for The Economic Times in Bangalore, India. Jai has a Master's degree in Statistics and lives in Naperville, Ill.

FBI Director Wray Issues Dire Warning on China's Cybersecurity Threat

By Waqas
Fear AI taking your IT or cybersecurity job? Don't! Learn how AI creates new opportunities in network management, threat detection & more.
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: IT and Cybersecurity Jobs in the Age of Emerging AI Technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, and IT and cybersecurity are no exception. While some fear AI replacing human workers, the reality is far more subtle. AI will undoubtedly automate tasks, but it will also create entirely new job opportunities in both the IT and cybersecurity sectors.

According to the cybersecurity and IT certification exam practice platform Examice, the IT sector has become more lucrative than ever before due to the sudden emergence of AI applications. This growth has caused the need for skilled professionals capable of managing and securing AI-driven systems.

ISC2’s AI Cyber 2024 study also reveals a strong sense of optimism among respondents, with 82% expressing belief in AI’s potential to enhance job efficiency. Additionally, 56% anticipate AI streamlining certain job tasks, thereby allowing more time for tasks of higher value. However, there is a general concern among 75% of respondents regarding the potential misuse of AI for cyberattacks and other malicious purposes.

This article explores how AI will impact these fields and the skills that will be most in demand in the coming years.

****AI’s Impact on IT****

AI’s integration into IT optimises operational tasks and promotes innovation, allowing IT professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives. Here are three key impacts of AI on the IT sector:

*   **Automation of Mundane Tasks:** AI will take over repetitive tasks like server management, software configuration, and basic troubleshooting. This will free up IT professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives like cloud migration, data center optimization, and user experience design.
*   **Enhanced Network Management:** AI-powered tools will proactively monitor networks, identify potential issues, and even take corrective actions before problems arise. This will lead to increased network uptime and efficiency.
*   **The Rise of AI-powered Support:** Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI will handle routine user inquiries, freeing up IT staff to address more complex issues.

****New Opportunities in IT****

While adding innovation to the Information Technology sector AI is also creating new opportunities for professionals, job seekers and entrepreneurs. Here are three among countless opportunities that professionals are already taking advantage of, thanks to AI:

*   **AI Integration Specialists:** Businesses will need specialists to integrate AI solutions into existing IT infrastructure and ensure seamless operation.
*   **Data Scientists and Analysts:** The vast amount of data generated by AI systems will require skilled data scientists to analyze it and extract valuable insights.
*   **IT Security Specialists for AI:** As AI becomes more prevalent, securing these systems against cyberattacks will be crucial. This will create a demand for IT security professionals with expertise in AI vulnerabilities.

****AI and Cybersecurity****

Cybersecurity is already a lucrative sector. While hackers can earn big bucks, they also protect and serve their countries by protecting their critical infrastructure from devastating cyber attacks.

It is also a fact that as the cybersecurity sector grows the same can be said about cyber attacks and cyber criminals. Here are 6 key things AI can or is already helping organisations with:

*   **AI-powered Threat Detection:** AI can analyze network traffic patterns and identify malicious activity with greater accuracy and speed than traditional methods. This will be crucial in the fight against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.
*   **Vulnerability Detection:** AI can continuously scan systems for vulnerabilities and recommend patches before attackers can exploit them.
*   **AI-driven Phishing Detection:** AI can analyze emails and identify subtle language cues that might indicate a phishing attempt.

*   **Expertise in AI Security:** Understanding how AI systems work and the specific security challenges they pose will be essential.
*   **Human-AI Collaboration:** Security professionals will need to be adept at working alongside AI tools to leverage their combined strengths.
*   **Strong Analytical Skills:** The ability to analyze data and identify security threats will remain a critical skill.

****The Future is Bright****

The rise of AI will undoubtedly change the future of the IT and cybersecurity sectors. However, these changes will not lead to widespread job displacement. Instead, AI will create new opportunities for professionals who are willing to adapt and develop the skills needed to thrive in this evolving environment.

However, cybercriminals are also monitoring the rise of AI. Malicious versions of AI chatbots, such as WormGPT and FraudGPT, are prime examples. Therefore, authorities must take necessary measures to prevent the misuse of AI, while simultaneously fostering its beneficial applications in the IT and cybersecurity domains.

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IT and Cybersecurity Jobs in the Age of Emerging AI Technologies

By Deeba Ahmed
Shadowboxing in Search Results: Tuta Mail De-ranked and Disappearing on Google!
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Tuta Mail (Tutanota) Accuses Google of Censoring Its Search Results

Is Google hiding Tuta Mail from search results? Here’s the controversy surrounding Tuta Mail’s search ranking and dig deeper into the potential violation of Europe’s DMA. Learn about algorithmic bias, the importance of search transparency, and how users can navigate a potentially unfair digital marketplace.

For many users seeking privacy-focused email solutions, the popular open-source encrypted email service Tuta Mail (previously Tutanota) is a great alternative to mainstream providers. However, the company recently raised concerns about its visibility in Google search results. 

****Tuta Mail Being De-ranked on Google?****

Hanover, Germany-based Tuta Mail, the world’s second-largest secure email service provider, isn’t appearing on Google for search terms like “encrypted email” or “secure email”. Moreover, a dramatic drop in search ranking for “Tutanota login” is observed, suggesting a potential violation of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA).

What happens when Tutanota login is typed in Google (Screenshot: Hackread.com)

According to Tuta Mail’s blog, its users in Germany cannot view Tuta’s website as the first result but only on their Android app on Google Play. It may have severe implications for Tuta’s business, despite being a Google-specific issue, because on other search engines, like Bing or DuckDuckGo, there’s no such issue. This lack of search visibility for relevant keywords can hinder Tuta’s ability to compete in the email service market and put them at a disadvantage. 

****Why Might Google Be De-ranking Tuta Mail?****

Tuta Mail’s lower ranking in Google search results could be due to various factors, including relevance, algorithmic bias, and technical issues. Google’s search algorithms prioritize user experience, and other email service providers may have higher relevance scores. Technical glitches or indexing problems can cause temporary website disappearance from search results, but this is highly unlikely for an established service like Tuta Mail. It is a complex issue and Google must address it to ensure transparency and user awareness. 

What’s more concerning is that it violates the DMA, which promotes fair competition for privacy-conscious companies. The DMA being a new regulation, is evolving its enforcement of search engine practices. If Tuta Mail has evidence of Google manipulating search results, they could file a complaint.

****Not the First Time for Tuta:****

Tuta Mail has been facing blockages from multiple sides. In 2022, Hackread.com reported Microsoft blocking Tutanota/Tuta Mail email addresses from registering for Microsoft Teams accounts, despite the service having over 2 million registered users.

Russia also blocked Tuta in certain parts of the country in February 2020 without notifying the team about the reason whereas the service has been blocked in Egypt since October 2019.

In a comment to Hackread.com, Matthias Pfau, co-founder of Tuta Mail, criticized Google’s monopoly over search engine results, specifically its impact on determining what to show and what not to show.

> _“This issue is limited to Google only. But due to Google’s search dominance in Europe and North America, the drop we see in search results directly affects our business: When potential users are not able to find our website on Google, it means we lose business. Google must stop this unfair limitation of showing our website in search results immediately. We have tried to contact Google directly, but since this did not work, we have to make the issue public.”_
> 
> Matthias Pfau, co-founder of Tuta Mail

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Tuta Mail (Tutanota) Accuses Google of Censoring Its Search Results

Given the state of the NVD and vulnerability management, we felt it was worth looking at the current state of the NVD, how we got to this point, what it means for security teams, and where we go from here.

Friday, April 19, 2024 08:00

The National Vulnerability Database is usually the single source of truth for all things related to security vulnerabilities.  

But now, they’re facing an uphill battle against a massive backlog of vulnerabilities, some of which are still waiting to be analyzed, and others that still have an inaccurate or altogether missing severity score.  

As of April 9, 5,799 CVEs that have been published since Feb. 15, 2024, remain unanalyzed. 

As the backlog piles up, it’s unclear how, or when, the NVD is going to get back to its regular cadence of processing, scoring and analyzing vulnerabilities that are submitted to the U.S. government repository. At its current pace, the NVD is analyzing about 2.9 percent of all published CVEs it's been sent, well behind its pace in previous years. If there were no new CVEs submitted today, it could take the NVD more than 91 days to empty that backlog and get caught up. 

Given the state of the NVD and vulnerability management, we felt it was worth looking at the current state of the NVD, how we got to this point, what it means for security teams, and where we go from here. 

**What is the NVD? **

The U.S.’s National Vulnerability Database provides the most comprehensive list of CVEs anywhere. This tracks security vulnerabilities in hardware and software and distributes that list to the public for anyone to use.  

This data enables organizations and large networks to automate vulnerability management, take appropriate security steps when a new vulnerability is discovered, important references and metrics that indicate how serious a particular vulnerability is.  

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has managed the NVD since 2000, when it was started as the Internet Category of Attack toolkit. It eventually morphed into the NVD, which passed the 150,000-vulnerability mark in 2021.  

In addition to simply listing the CVEs that are regularly disclosed, the NVD scores vulnerabilities using the CVSS system, which often differ from the initial severity score that’s assigned by the researcher that discovers the vulnerability, or the company or organization behind the affected product or software. 

Since the creation of I-CAT, no other organization or private company has as comprehensive of a list of vulnerabilities as the NVD, nor do they offer it for free like NIST does.  

**Why is the backlog a problem? **

On the surface, it may seem like the fact that the NVD has been slow to analyze CVEs isn’t all that bad, considering security issues are still being disclosed and patched every day (think: Microsoft Patch Tuesday). 

However, the lack of a single source of CVEs augmented information is detrimental to administrators, security researchers and users, and security experts are warning that the issue needs to be addressed quickly, or an alternative needs to be adopted.  

With the NVD being a collection of all this information, it’s up to the individual vendors to responsibly disclose and release vulnerabilities discovered in their products, which puts the onus on administrators to track that information down. If someone who handles patch management for a network was relying on the NVD for their information, that list is likely outdated at this point, and instead, they need to visit each individual vendor to find out what vulnerabilities were recently disclosed in their products, and how large of a risk they present.  

On any given network, that could be dozens to even hundreds of vendors, and while massive companies like Apple and Microsoft have easy-to-access security and vulnerability information, smaller open-source projects may not have the same resources that administrators need.  

The NVD is also the most trusted source for severity scores. Their calculations are generally what most users see when they read a security advisory. But without their input, it’s on the researcher or vendor to assign a score, instead. Under that system, there is no guarantee that a company may not want to score their vulnerability higher so it does not seem as serious, while researchers may want to bump up the severity of the issue they find so they are credited with discovering a higher-severity issue.  

As Talos has discussed before, a CVSS score is not the only metric worth relying on when patching, but it does play a major role in how the public views vulnerabilities and whether they’re likely to be exploited in the wild. According to Talos’ 2023 Year in Review report, eight of the 10 most-exploited CVEs last year received a severity score of 9.3 or higher. Any sense of uncertainty around CVSS scores can leave administrators scratching their heads and without a “north star” for patch management. 

The recent xz Utility vulnerability that was luckily prevented before any attackers could exploit it still does not have a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) assigned to it as of April 10 because of the backlog. Had an exploit for this been used, defenders would be missing crucial context and information for defending against this backdoor. 

**How did this backlog develop? **

NIST has been relatively vague about why the agency has been slow to process new vulnerabilities. The first sign of trouble came in February, when NIST released a statement that a “growing backlog of vulnerabilities” had developed because of “an increase in software and, therefore, vulnerabilities, as well as a change in interagency support.” 

NIST’s budget was cut by about 12 percent after the recent package of funding bills passed by U.S. Congress, as well. 

The agency also said in February that additional NIST staff were being shifted around to address the backlog, and at the recent VulnCon and Annual CNA Summit, the NVD program director promised that NIST was developing a consortium to help address the issues with the NVD.  

The total number of vulnerabilities disclosed continues to increase every year, driven by larger amounts of software on the market and increased visibility into security concerns and research. Last year, there were 28,961 CVEs disclosed, according to the CVE Program, an increase of 15 percent from 2022. The last time there were fewer CVEs assigned in a year compared to the year prior was in 2016. 

**What are some potential solutions? **

NIST has continued to publicly support the NVD and says it's preparing to revitalize the database. But it’s unclear what short- or long-term solutions or alternatives exist. 

Jerry Gamblin, a principal threat detection and response engineer for Cisco Vulnerability Management, said there has yet to be a company or organization willing to take on the monstrous task of tracking and scoring \*every\* CVE, especially for free.  

Other vulnerability catalogs exist like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, but the KEV only lists vulnerabilities that have actively been exploited in the wild. 

In short — all the potential alternatives are imperfect. 

“We can get the data from anywhere, and AI data could even help, but people just need to decide,” Gamblin said. “Is there going to be just one source of data? And who is the source of truth for this data? Who owns this data?” 

A private company like MITRE could step up to create its own solution, but it’d likely want to charge for access to that database. Any non-profit organization who also wants to step up would also likely need a massive influx of money and manpower to address the sheer volume of CVEs that come in every day. 

And while NIST says the consortium is in the works, there’s no timetable for how long it could take for that to be established, and which private companies would be involved.  

For now, it’s best to stick to tried-and-true patching strategies that have worked for years. Software, like Cisco Vulnerability Management, which has not been affected by the NVD backlog, can also assist in automating the patching process and prioritizing which vulnerabilities to patch first.

What’s the deal with the massive backlog of vulnerabilities at the NVD?

Malformed DOS paths in file-naming nomenclature in Windows could be used to conceal malicious content, files, and processes.

Source: Robert Adrian Hillman via Alamy Stock Vector

BLACK HAT ASIA – Singapore – A known issue associated with the DOS-to-NT path conversion process in Windows opens up significant risk for businesses by allowing attackers to gain rootkit-like post-exploitation capabilities to conceal and impersonate files, directories, and processes.

That's according to Or Yair, security researcher at SafeBreach, who outlined the issue during a session here this week. He also detailed four different vulnerabilities related to the issue, which he dubbed "MagicDot" - including a dangerous remote code-execution bug that can be triggered simply by extracting an archive.

**Dots & Spaces in DOS-to-NT Path Conversion**

The MagicDot group of problems exist thanks to the way that Windows changes DOS paths to NT paths.

When users open files or folders on their PCs, Windows accomplishes this by referencing the path where the file exists; normally, that's a DOS path that follows the "C:\\Users\\User\\Documents\\example.txt" format. However, a different underlying function called NtCreateFile is used to actually perform the operation of opening the file, and NtCreateFile asks for an NT path and not a DOS path. Thus, Windows converts the familiar DOS path visible to users into an NT path, prior to calling NtCreateFile to enable the operation.

The exploitable problem exists because, during the conversion process, Windows automatically removes any periods from the DOS path, along with any extra spaces at the end. Thus, DOS paths like these:

*   C:\\example\\example<space>    
    

are all converted to "\\??\\C:\\example\\example" as an NT path.

Yair discovered that this automatic stripping out of erroneous characters could allow attackers to create specially crafted DOS paths that would be converted to NT paths of their choice, which could then be used to either render files unusable or to conceal malicious content and activities.

**Simulating an Unprivileged Rootkit**

The MagicDot issues first and foremost create the opportunity for a number of post-exploitation techniques that help attackers on a machine maintain stealth.

For instance, it's possible to lock up malicious content and prevent users, even admins, from examining it. "By placing a simple trailing dot at the end of a malicious file name or by naming a file or a directory with dots and/or spaces only, I could make all user-space programs that use the normal API inaccessible to them ... users would not be able to read, write, delete, or do anything else with them," Yair explained in the session.

Then, in a related attack, Yair found that the technique could be used to hide files or directories within archive files.

"I simply ended a file name in an archive with a dot to prevent Explorer from listing or extracting it," Yair said. "As a result, I was able to place a malicious file inside an innocent zip — whoever used Explorer to view and extract the archive contents was unable to see that file existed inside."

A third attack method involves masking malicious content by impersonating legitimate file paths.

"If there was a harmless file called 'benign,' I was able to \[use DOS-to-NT path conversion\] to create a malicious file in the same directory \[also named\] benign," he explained, adding that the same approach could be used to impersonate folders and even broader Windows processes. "As a result, when a user reads the malicious file, the content of the original harmless file would be returned instead," leaving the victim none the wiser that they were actually opening malicious content.

Taken together, manipulating MagicDot paths can grant adversaries rootkit-like abilities without admin privileges, explained Yair, who published detailed technical notes on the attack methods in tandem with the session.

"I found I could hide files and processes, hide files in archives, affect prefetch file analysis, make Task Manager and Process Explorer users think a malware file was a verified executable published by Microsoft, disable Process Explorer with a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability, and more," he said — all without admin privileges or the ability to run code in the kernel, and without intervention in the chain of API calls that retrieve information.

"It's important that the cybersecurity community recognize this risk and consider developing unprivileged rootkit detection techniques and rules," he warned.

**A Series of "MagicDot" Vulnerabilities**

During his research into the MagicDot paths, Yair also managed to uncover four different vulnerabilities related to the underlying issue, three of them since patched by Microsoft.

One remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability (CVE-2023-36396, CVSS 7.8) in Windows's new extraction logic for all newly supported archive types allows attackers to craft a malicious archive that would write anywhere they choose on a remote computer once extracted, leading to code execution.

"Basically, let's say you upload an archive to your GitHub repository advertising it as a cool tool available for download," Yair tells Dark Reading. "And when the user downloads it, it's not an executable, you just extract the archive, which is considered a completely safe action with no security risks. But now, the extraction itself is able to run code on your computer, and that is seriously wrong and very dangerous."

A second bug is an elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerability (CVE-2023-32054, CVSS 7.3) that allows attackers to write into files without privileges by manipulating the restoration process of a previous version from a shadow copy.

The third bug is Process Explorer unprivileged DOS for anti-analysis bug, for which CVE-2023-42757 has been reserved, with details to follow. And the fourth bug, also an EoP issue, allows unprivileged attackers to delete files. Microsoft confirmed that the flaw led to "unexpected behavior" but hasn't yet issued a CVE or a fix for it.

"I create a folder inside the demo folder called …<space> and inside, I write a file named c.txt," Yair explained. "Then when an administrator attempts to delete the …<space> folder, the entire demo folder is deleted instead."

**Potentially Wider "MagicDot" Ramifications**

While Microsoft addressed Yair's specific vulnerabilities, the DOS-to-NT path conversion auto-stripping of periods and spaces persists, even though that's the root cause of the vulnerabilities.

"That means there might be many more potential vulnerabilities and post-exploitation techniques to find using this issue," the researcher tells Dark Reading. "This issue is still exists and can lead to many more issues and vulnerabilities, which can be much more dangerous than the ones we know about."

He adds that the problem has ramifications beyond Microsoft.

"We believe the implications are relevant not only to Microsoft Windows, which is the world's most widely used desktop OS, but also to all software vendors, most of whom also allow known issues to persist from version to version of their software," he warned in his presentation.

Meanwhile, software developers can make their code safer against these types of vulnerabilities by utilizing NT paths rather than DOS paths, he noted.

"Most high-level API calls in Windows support NT paths," Yair said in his presentation. "Using NT paths avoids the conversion process and ensures the provided path is the same path that is being actually operated on."

For businesses, security teams should create detections that look for rogue periods and spaces within file paths.

"There are pretty easy detections that you can develop for these, to look for files or directories, that have trailing dots or spaces in them, because if you find those, on your computer, it means that someone did it on purpose because it's not that easy to do," Yair tells Dark Reading. "Normal users can't just create a file with ends with a dot or space, Microsoft will prevent that. Attackers will need to use a lower API that is closer to the kernel, and will need some expertise to accomplish this."

**About the Author(s)**

Tara Seals has 20+ years of experience as a journalist, analyst and editor in the cybersecurity, communications and technology space. Prior to Dark Reading, Tara was Editor in Chief at Threatpost, and prior to that, the North American news lead for Infosecurity Magazine. She also spent 13 years working for Informa (formerly Virgo Publishing), as executive editor and editor-in-chief at publications focused on both the service provider and the enterprise arenas. A Texas native, she holds a B.A. from Columbia University, lives in Western Massachusetts with her family and is on a never-ending quest for good Mexican food in the Northeast.

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