in Apache Struts 2 , requiring an immediate update . The vulnerability – CVE-2018-11776 – affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitycore code and allows miscreants to pull off remote code execution against vulnerable servers and websites . It affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityall versions of Struts 2 , the popular open-source framework for Java web apps . The Apache Software Foundation has `` urgently advised '' anyone using Struts to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto the latest version immediately , noting that the last time a critical hole was foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, the holes were being exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin the wild just a day later . In other words , if you delay in patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, your organization will be compromised in short order via this bug , if you are running vulnerable systems . It was that earlier flaw that led to a nightmare data breachAttack.Databreachfrom credit company Equifax after it failed to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityswiftly enough . The details of nearly 150 million people were exposedAttack.Databreach, costing the company more than $ 600m , so this is not something to be taken lightly . The company that discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability – Semmle Security Research Team – warns that this latest one is actually worse that the one last year , which it also foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. It has published a blog post with more information . Semmle foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe hole back in April and reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityit to Apache , which put outVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch in June that it has now pulledVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityinto formal updates ( 2.3.35 for those using version 2.3 and 2.5.17 for those on 2.5 ) . As mentioned , the vulnerability is in the core code and does n't require additional plugins to work . It is caused by insufficient validation of untrusted user data in the core of the Struts framework , and can be exploited in several different ways . Semmle says it has identified two different vectors but warns there may be others . Since it can be used remotely and due to the fact that Struts is typically used to create applications that are on the public internet , hackers are going to be especially focused on exploiting it so they can gain access to corporate networks . And there are some big targets out there : Apache Struts is extremely common with most large corporations using it somewhere in their systems for web apps . Semmle 's VP of engineering , Pavel Avgustinov , had this to say about the hole on Wednesday this week : `` Critical remote code execution vulnerabilities like the one that affectedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityEquifax and the one we announced today are incredibly dangerous for several reasons : Struts is used for publicly-accessible customer-facing websites , vulnerable systems are easily identified , and the flaw is easy to exploitVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. A hacker can find their way in within minutes , and exfiltrateAttack.Databreachdata or stage further attacks from the compromised system . It ’ s crucially important to update affected systems immediately ; to wait is to take an irresponsible risk . '' This is very far from the first time that big security holes have been foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin Struts , leading some to recommend that people simply stop using it .
The Bitcoin Core team yesterday releasedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch for a DDoS vulnerability that could prove fatal to the Bitcoin network . The patch note urged miners to shut down their older versions urgently and replaceVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythem with the new version , Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 . The announcement , first reported on Hacked , revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat all the recent Bitcoin Core versions could be vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto Distributed Denial-of-Service attack . An attack of such kind typically involves multiple compromised systems to flood a single system ( or network ) – similar to zombies encircling an uninfected person and disabling his movements . DDoS perpetrators could attack a Bitcoin network by either flooding the block with duplicate transactions , thus jamming the transaction confirmation of other people , or by flooding the nodes on Bitcoin ’ s peer-to-peer network , thus over-utilizing the bandwidth through malicious transaction relays . The recent DDoS vulnerability , termed asVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityCVE-2018-17144 , tried to attempt the latter – flooding full node operators with traffic . Hacked reports : “ The way the potential exploit could work was by allowing anyone who was capable of mining a sufficient number of proof of work blocks to crash Bitcoin Cores running software versions 0.14.0 to 0.16.2. ” It also means that the miners who occasionally run Bitcoin Core were not vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto the attack . Still , developers recommendedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityall the miners to go ahead with the latest update to stay safe . Also , the patch fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysome other minor bugs related to consensus , RPC , invalid flag errors , and documentation . It is worth noticing that Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency that is on the DDoS attackers ’ hitlist . Flaws have been foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin other cryptocurrency clients as well , including Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum . An effective attack on the Ethereum network lasted more than a month and created million of dead accounts . In response , developers had to go through two on-chain forks and one off-chain process to clean up the mess . In another DDoS attack that slowed down the Ethereum network , miners had to increase gas fees to repel the attackers . There was no consensus failure . DDoS continues to be a global problem that impacts all spheres of the internet . Europol in its latest investigative report noted : “ Criminals continue to use Distributed-Denial-of-Service ( DDoS ) attacks as a tool against private business and the public sector . Such attacks are used not only for financial gains but the ideological , political or purely malicious reason . This type of attack is not only one of the most frequent ( second only to malware in 2017 ) ; it is also becoming more accessible , low-cost and low-risk. ” Meanwhile , decentralized networks like Bitcoin are still more secure against such attacks purely because single entities would not be able to bring them down . Also , because the people , including the attackers themselves , are heavily invested in Bitcoin , a coordinated attack would just rip them off their bitcoin validation commissions .
A generic wireless camera manufactured by a Chinese company and sold around the world under different names and brands can be easily hijacked and/or roped into a botnet . The flaw that allows this to happen is foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin a custom version of GoAhead , a lightweight embedded web server that has been fitted into the devices . This and other vulnerabilities have been foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby security researcher Pierre Kim , who tested one of the branded cameras – the Wireless IP Camera ( P2P ) WIFICAM . The extensive list of devices affected byVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaw in the custom embedded web server can be foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityhere , and includes 1250+ camera models from over 300 vendors , including D-Link , Foscam , Logitech , Netcam , and Polaroid . “ This vulnerability allows an attacker to steal credentials , ftp accounts and smtp accounts ( email ) , ” Kim notedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. He also sharedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya PoC exploit that leverages the flaw to allow an attacker to achieve root shell on the device . Other vulnerabilities presentVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityinclude a RTSP server running on the camera ’ s TCP 10554 port , which can be accessed without authentication , allowing attackers to watch what the camera streams . There is also a “ cloud ” functionality that is on by default , through which the camera can be managed via a mobile Android app . The connection between the two is established through UDP , and will be automatically established to any app that “ asks ” if a particular camera is online . Effectively , the attacker just needs to know the serial number of the device . The established UDP tunnel can also be used by the attacker to dump the camera ’ s configuration file in cleartext , or to bruteforce credentials . “ The UDP tunnel between the attacker and the camera is established even if the attacker doesn ’ t know the credentials , ” Kim noted . “ It ’ s useful to note the tunnel bypasses NAT and firewall , allowing the attacker to reach internal cameras ( if they are connected to the Internet ) and to bruteforce credentials . Then , the attacker can just try to bruteforce credentials of the camera ” . Kim advises owners of these devices to disconnect them from the Internet . A simple search with Shodan revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat there are 185,000+ vulnerable cameras out there , ready to be hijacked . The vulnerabilities are not in GoAhead , but the custom version of the web server developed by the Chinese OEM vendor , so EmbedThis – the company that develops GoAhead – can do nothing to fixVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis . Interestingly enough , SecuriTeam revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitytoday the existence of an arbitrary file content disclosureVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityvulnerability affectingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityolder versions of the GoAhead web server . DiscoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby independent security researcher Istvan Toth , the vulnerability can be triggered by sending a malformed request to the web server , and it will disclose device credentials to the attacker in clear text . “ The GoAhead web server is present on multiple embedded devices , from IP cameras to printers and other embedded devices , ” SecuriTeam explained , and urged owners to remove the device from the network , “ or at the very least not allow access to the web interface to anyone beside a very strict IP address range ”