UK companies a whopping £346 million every year , despite Britain being labelled ‘ the most resolute ’ country for dealing with the cyber attacksAttack.Ransom. In fact , more than 40 per cent of mid-large UK business suffered on average five ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomduring the last year , according to research by Vanson Bourne . However , 92 per cent of security professionals feel confident in their ability to combat ransomware in the future . And there was more good news for British . The survey found the UK to be the most resolute , both in refusing to pay ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, as well as the most effective in combatting them . They experience the fewest number of attacks : 40 per cent , versus 70 per cent in Germany , 59 per cent in France and 55 per cent in the USA and enjoy a 43 per cent success rate in successfully defending against attacks . The research , commissioned by SentinelOne , reveals that ransomware is costingAttack.Ransomindividual businesses around the globe an average of £591,238 per annum . The research all concluded that the number of companies ravaged by ransomware is on the rise . Results show that the overall percentage of companies experiencing ransomware has increased from 48 per cent in 2016 to 56 per cent in 2018 , however the average number per year has fallen from six to five attacks . The amount of time spent decrypting ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomhas also increased from 33 to 40 man-hours . The study also reveals that employees are considered the major culprits responsible for introducing the malware into the business . This was further supported by the fact that phishingAttack.Phishing, which seeks to socially engineer employees , was the top attack vector by which ransomware infiltrated the business in 69 per cent of instances . Migo Kedem , director of Product Management at SentinelOne said : “ It ’ s staggering to see the cost to British businesses of £346 million . This figure shows that businesses are becoming increasingly aware that it ’ s not just the ransom demandAttack.Ransom, but rather the ancillary costs of downtime , staff time , lost business , as well as the data recovery costs and reputational damage that are the biggest concern to British businesses. ” He added : “ On a more positive note , it ’ s good to see CISOs feeling more bullish about their ability to tackle ransomware using the latest behavioural AI-based end-point technology . It ’ s also encouraging to see a clear movement against companies caving in to ransomware demandsAttack.Ransom, preferring instead to take more proactive measure such as back-ups and patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof vulnerable systems . However , the volume of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomis still increasing and their speed , scale , sophistication and success in evading detection with the growth in file-less and memory-based malware , explains why ransomware will continue to be a major threat to CISOs in 2018 and beyond . ”
Intel revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat it will not be issuingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitySpectre patches to a number of older Intel processor families , potentially leaving many customers vulnerable to the security exploit . Intel claims the processors affected are mostly implemented as closed systems , so they aren ’ t at risk from the Spectre exploit , and that the age of these processors means they have limited commercial availability . The processors which Intel won ’ t be patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityinclude four lines from 2007 , Penryn , Yorkfield , and Wolfdale , along with Bloomfield ( 2009 ) , Clarksfield ( 2009 ) , Jasper Forest ( 2010 ) and the Intel Atom SoFIA processors from 2015 . According to Tom ’ s Hardware , Intel ’ s decision not to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese products could stem from the relative difficulty of patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe Spectre exploit on older systems . “ After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products , Intel has determined to not releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymicrocode updates for these products , ” Intel said . Because of the nature of the Spectre exploit , patches for it need to be deliveredVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityas an operating system or BIOS update , and if Microsoft and motherboard OEMs aren ’ t going to distributeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe patches , developingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythem isn ’ t much of a priority . “ However , the real reason Intel gave up on patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese systems seems to be that neither motherboard makers nor Microsoft may be willing to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysystems sold a decade ago , ” Tom ’ s Hardware reports . It sounds bad , but as Intel pointed out , these are all relatively old processors — with the exception of the Intel Atom SoFIA processor , which came out in 2015 — and it ’ s unlikely they ’ re used in any high-security environments . The Spectre exploit is a serious security vulnerability to be sure , but as some commentators have pointed out in recent months , it ’ s not the kind of exploit the average user needs to worry about . “ We ’ ve now completed releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof microcode updates for Intel microprocessor products launched in the last 9+ years that required protection against the side-channel vulnerabilities discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Google Project Zero , ” said an Intel spokseperson . “ However , as indicated in our latest microcode revision guidance , we will not be providingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityupdated microcode for a select number of older platforms for several reasons , including limited ecosystem support and customer feedback. ” If you have an old Penryn processor toiling away in an office PC somewhere , you ’ re probably more at risk for a malware infection arising from a bad download than you are susceptible to something as technically sophisticated as the Spectre or Meltdown vulnerabilities .
Intel revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat it will not be issuingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitySpectre patches to a number of older Intel processor families , potentially leaving many customers vulnerable to the security exploit . Intel claims the processors affected are mostly implemented as closed systems , so they aren ’ t at risk from the Spectre exploit , and that the age of these processors means they have limited commercial availability . The processors which Intel won ’ t be patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityinclude four lines from 2007 , Penryn , Yorkfield , and Wolfdale , along with Bloomfield ( 2009 ) , Clarksfield ( 2009 ) , Jasper Forest ( 2010 ) and the Intel Atom SoFIA processors from 2015 . According to Tom ’ s Hardware , Intel ’ s decision not to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese products could stem from the relative difficulty of patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe Spectre exploit on older systems . “ After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products , Intel has determined to not releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymicrocode updates for these products , ” Intel said . Because of the nature of the Spectre exploit , patches for it need to be deliveredVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityas an operating system or BIOS update , and if Microsoft and motherboard OEMs aren ’ t going to distributeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe patches , developingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythem isn ’ t much of a priority . “ However , the real reason Intel gave up on patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese systems seems to be that neither motherboard makers nor Microsoft may be willing to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysystems sold a decade ago , ” Tom ’ s Hardware reports . It sounds bad , but as Intel pointed out , these are all relatively old processors — with the exception of the Intel Atom SoFIA processor , which came out in 2015 — and it ’ s unlikely they ’ re used in any high-security environments . The Spectre exploit is a serious security vulnerability to be sure , but as some commentators have pointed out in recent months , it ’ s not the kind of exploit the average user needs to worry about . “ We ’ ve now completed releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof microcode updates for Intel microprocessor products launched in the last 9+ years that required protection against the side-channel vulnerabilities discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Google Project Zero , ” said an Intel spokseperson . “ However , as indicated in our latest microcode revision guidance , we will not be providingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityupdated microcode for a select number of older platforms for several reasons , including limited ecosystem support and customer feedback. ” If you have an old Penryn processor toiling away in an office PC somewhere , you ’ re probably more at risk for a malware infection arising from a bad download than you are susceptible to something as technically sophisticated as the Spectre or Meltdown vulnerabilities .
LONDON — The U.K. agency tasked with fighting cyberthreats on Thursday announced a new process for the public disclosureVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityof potentially sensitive software flaws , introducing a new level of transparency to its work . The National Cyber Security Centre laid out its new procedure , called the `` Equities Process '' in a blog post that details how it makes decisions on whether to make publicVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe discovery of new flaws . National security operations sometimes hold back from announcingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe discovery of security flaws in part because the bugs can be used to gather intelligence . “ There ’ s got to be a good reason not to disclose , ” said Ian Levy , technical director at the NCSC . The default position , the NCSC said , is to discloseVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythose vulnerabilities to the public after fixes have been madeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. The government will only keep them confidential in rare instances , such as if there ’ s an overriding intelligence reason . Levy said withholding release of a bug will require high-level government sign-off . The goal is to prevent cyberattacksAttack.Ransomlike “ WannaCry , ” which paralyzed computer systems around the world in May 2017 . The attack , which the U.S. has blamed on North Korea , wrought havoc within the U.K. ’ s National Health Service ( NHS ) by exploiting vulnerabilities in an outdated version of Microsoft Windows . WannaCry underscored the dangers of not patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityor updatingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysoftware . The NCSC ’ s disclosure policy follows one implemented by the White House in 2017 . The National Security Agency ( NSA ) had come under intense pressure from transparency advocates to disclose more about its work in the wake of WannaCry . “ The best defense against a cyberattack , whether it ’ s by criminals or nation states , is to keep your box up to date , ” said Levy . “ If you patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityyour software , a lot of the stuff that we ’ ve found goes away. ” The vast majority of attacks are carried out by exploiting vulnerabilities already known to the vendors of the technology in question , Levy said . Such was the case when Russian cyberoperatives hacked into British telecoms companies in 2017 . Levy said the primary goal of more transparency is to “ bang the drum ” about basic cybersecurity , like patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityand secure network setups .
LONDON — The U.K. agency tasked with fighting cyberthreats on Thursday announced a new process for the public disclosureVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityof potentially sensitive software flaws , introducing a new level of transparency to its work . The National Cyber Security Centre laid out its new procedure , called the `` Equities Process '' in a blog post that details how it makes decisions on whether to make publicVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe discovery of new flaws . National security operations sometimes hold back from announcingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe discovery of security flaws in part because the bugs can be used to gather intelligence . “ There ’ s got to be a good reason not to disclose , ” said Ian Levy , technical director at the NCSC . The default position , the NCSC said , is to discloseVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythose vulnerabilities to the public after fixes have been madeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. The government will only keep them confidential in rare instances , such as if there ’ s an overriding intelligence reason . Levy said withholding release of a bug will require high-level government sign-off . The goal is to prevent cyberattacksAttack.Ransomlike “ WannaCry , ” which paralyzed computer systems around the world in May 2017 . The attack , which the U.S. has blamed on North Korea , wrought havoc within the U.K. ’ s National Health Service ( NHS ) by exploiting vulnerabilities in an outdated version of Microsoft Windows . WannaCry underscored the dangers of not patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityor updatingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysoftware . The NCSC ’ s disclosure policy follows one implemented by the White House in 2017 . The National Security Agency ( NSA ) had come under intense pressure from transparency advocates to disclose more about its work in the wake of WannaCry . “ The best defense against a cyberattack , whether it ’ s by criminals or nation states , is to keep your box up to date , ” said Levy . “ If you patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityyour software , a lot of the stuff that we ’ ve found goes away. ” The vast majority of attacks are carried out by exploiting vulnerabilities already known to the vendors of the technology in question , Levy said . Such was the case when Russian cyberoperatives hacked into British telecoms companies in 2017 . Levy said the primary goal of more transparency is to “ bang the drum ” about basic cybersecurity , like patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityand secure network setups .
If you ’ re a BMW owner , prepare to patch ! Chinese researchers have foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability14 security vulnerabilities affectingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitymany models . The ranges affectedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability( some as far back as 2012 ) are the BMW i Series , X Series , 3 Series , 5 Series and 7 Series , with a total of seven rated serious enough to be assigned CVEVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitynumbers . The vulnerabilities are in in the Telematics Control Unit ( TCU ) , the Central Gateway Module , and Head Unit , across a range of interfaces including via GSM , BMW Remote Service , BMW ConnectedDrive , Remote Diagnosis , NGTP , Bluetooth , and the USB/OBD-II interfaces . Some require local access ( e.g . via USB ) to exploit but six including the Bluetooth flaw were accessible remotely , making them the most serious . Should owners worry that the flaws could be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, endangering drivers and vehicles ? On the basis of the technical description , that seems unlikely , although Keen Lab won ’ t release the full proof-of-concept code until 2019 . Keen Lab described the effect of its hacking as allowing it to carry out : The execution of arbitrary , unauthorized diagnostic requests of BMW in-car systems remotely . To which BMW responded : BMW Group has already implemented security measures , which are currently being rolled out via over-the-air configuration updates . Additional security enhancements for the affected infotainment systems are being developedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityand will be availableVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityas software updates for customers . In other words , some fixes have already been madeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, while others will be madeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitybetween now and early 2019 , potentially requiring a trip to a service centre . Full marks to BMW for promptly responding to the research but the press release issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin its wake reads like PR spin . To most outsiders , this is a case of Chinese white hats findingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityvulnerabilities in BMW ’ s in-car systems . To BMW , judging by the triumphant language of its press release , it ’ s as if this was the plan all along , right down to awarding Keen Lab the “ first-ever BMW Group Digitalization and IT Research Award. ” More likely , car makers are being caught out by the attention their in-car systems are getting from researchers , with Volkswagen Audi Group experiencing some of the same discomfort a couple of weeks ago at the hands of Dutch researchers . BMW has experienced this before too – three years ago it sufferedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityan embarrassing security flaw in its car ConnectedDrive software door-locking systems . Let ’ s not feel too sorry for the car makers because it ’ s the owners who face the biggest adjustment to their expectations – software flaws and patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityare no longer just for computers .
Intel ’ s newly announced 9-series CPUs bring a lot of exciting new features to the table , including higher clock speeds and the promise of greater gaming performance . But arguably one of the most important factors is in security . These chips are the first generation of new desktop CPUs to come withVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityhardware fixes for the Spectre and Meltdown bugs which emerged in recent years . In particular , it ’ s the new K-series of gaming CPUs that are receivingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe fix . Those chips come with changes at the hardware level and should be far more secure against the kind of attacks that Spectre and its ilk have brought to light in recent years . Although they are still based on the same 14nm node that has dominated Intel ’ s chip designs since 2014 , these would be the first ones to come withVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya fix for these sorts of bugs at the hardware level . The second set of new 9th-gen chips , the X-series ( and Xeon-class chips ) , don’t haveVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythose same security fixes . Because they ’ re based on the older Skylake-X architecture , Intel is relying solely on software updates to keep them protected againstVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese possible vulnerabilities . News of the fixes were shared at Intel ’ s recent desktop press event , where it stated that , “ the new desktop processors include protections for the security vulnerabilities commonly referred to as ‘ Spectre , ’ ‘ Meltdown , ’ and ‘ L1TF. ’ These protections include a combination of the hardware design changes we announced earlier this year as well as software and microcode updates. ” The hardware alterations made to the chips protect against Meltdown V3 , otherwise known as the rogue data cache load bug . The L1 terminal fault exploit was also shored up with hardware changes . Software and microcode changes protect those same chips against the Spectre V2 branch target injection bug , the Meltdown V3 , a rogue system register read , and the variant V4 speculative store bypass flaw . In the laptop world , Intel has had a similar approach toward making hardware-level fixes . Some , but not all , have implemented hardware protections . Intel has been criticized in the past for the way it has handled these potentially critical flaws and has had a relatively slow move toward patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe vulnerabilities on a hardware level throughout 2018 .
After scrambling to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya critical vulnerability late last month , Drupal is at it again . The open source content management project has issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityan unscheduled security update to augment its previous patch for Drupalgeddon2 . There was also a cross-site scripting bug advisory in mid-April . The latest Drupal core vulnerability , designatedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, SA-CORE-2018-004 and assignedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityCVE-2018-7602 , is related to the March SA-CORE-2018-002 flaw ( CVE-2018-7600 ) , according to the Drupal security team . It can be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto take over a website 's server , and allow miscreants to steal information or alter pages . `` It is a remote code execution vulnerability , '' explained a member of the Drupal security team in an email to The Register . `` No more technical details beyond that are available . '' The vulnerability affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityat least Drupal 7.x and Drupal 8.x . And a similar issue has been foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin the Drupal Media module . In a blog post from earlier this month about the March patch , Dries Buytaert , founder of the Drupal project , observedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat all software has security issues and critical security bugs are rare . While the March bug is being actively exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, the Drupal security team says it 's unaware of any exploitation of the latest vulnerability . But it wo n't be long – those maintaining the project observed automated attacks appearing about two weeks after the SA-CORE-2018-002 notice . The fix is to upgradeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto the most recent version of Drupal 7 or 8 core . The latest code can be found at Drupal 's website . For those running 7.x , that means upgrading to Drupal 7.59 . For those running , 8.5.x , the latest version if 8.5.3 . And for those still on 8.4.x , there 's an upgrade to 8.4.8 , despite the fact that as an unsupported minor release , the 8.4.x line would not normally getVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysecurity updates . And finally , if you 're still on Drupal 6 , which is no longer officially supported , unofficial patches are being developedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityhere . Drupal users appear to be taking the release in stride , though with a bit of grumbling . `` Drupal Wednesday looks like the new Windows patch day , '' quipped designer Tom Binroth via Twitter . `` I would rather spend my time on creating new stuff than patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityDrupal core sites . ''
A Google Project Zero researcher has published a macOS exploit to demonstrate that Apple is exposing its users to security risks by patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityserious flaws in iOS but not revealing the fact until it fixesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe same bugs in macOS a week later . This happened during Apple 's updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfor critical flaws in iOS 12 , tvOS 12 and Safari 12 on September 17 . A Wayback Machine snapshot of the original advisory does n't mentionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityany of the bugs that Project Zero researcher Ivan Fratric had reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto Apple , and which were actually fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. Then , a week later , after Apple patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe same bugs in macOS , the company updatedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityits original advisory with details about the nine flaws that Fratric had reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, six of which affectedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitySafari . The update fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya Safari bug that allowed arbitrary code execution on macOS if a vulnerable version of Safari browsed to a website hosting an exploit for the bugs . While Fratric concedes that Apple is probably concealingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe fix in iOS to buy time to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymacOS , he argues the end result is that people may ignore an important security update because they were n't properly informed by Apple in the security advisory . `` This practice is misleading because customers interested in the Apple security advisories would most likely read them only once , when they are first released and the impression they would get is that the product updates fix far fewer vulnerabilities and less severe vulnerabilities than is actually the case . '' Even worse , a skilled attacker could use the update for iOS to reverse-engineer a patch , develop an exploit for macOS , and then deploy it against a macOS user-base that does n't have a patch . Users also do n't know that Apple has released information that could make their systems vulnerable to attack . Fratric developed an exploit for one of the Safari bugs he reported and publishedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe attack on Thursday . The bugs were all foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityusing a publicly available fuzzing tool he developed , called Domato , meaning anyone else , including highly advanced attackers , could use it too . `` If a public tool was able to find that many bugs , it is expected that private ones might be even more successful , '' he noted . He was n't aiming to write a reliable or sophisticated exploit , but the bug is useful enough for a skilled exploit writer to develop an attack to spread malware and `` potentially do a lot of damage even with an unreliable exploit '' . Fratric said he successfully tested the exploit on Mac OS 10.13.6 High Sierra , build version 17G65 . `` If you are still using this version , you might want to update , '' noted Fratric . On the upside , it appears Apple and its Safari WebKit team have improved the security of the browser compared with the results of Fratric 's Domato fuzzing efforts last year , which turned up way more bugs in Safari than in Chrome , Internet Explorer , and Edge . Last year he foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability17 Safari flaws using the fuzzing tool . His final word of warning is not to discount any of the bugs he found just because no one 's seen them being attacked in the wild . `` While it is easy to brush away such bugs as something we have n't seen actual attackers use , that does n't mean it 's not happening or that it could n't happen , '' the researcher noted .
Back in January 2013 , researchers from application security services firm DefenseCode unearthedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya remote root access vulnerability in the default installation of some Cisco Linksys ( now Belkin ) routers . The flaw was actually foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin Broadcom ’ s UPnP implementation used in popular routers , and ultimately the researchers extendedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe list of vulnerable routers to encompass devices manufactured by the likes of ASUS , D-Link , Zyxel , US Robotics , TP-Link , Netgear , and others . “ Back in the days , Cisco fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe vulnerability , but we are not sure about all other router vendors and models because there are too many of them , ” the DefenseCode team noted . When DefenseCode first came outVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitywith the vulnerability in 2013 , Rapid7 researchers also foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya number of flaws in other popular UPnP implementations , and by scanning the Internet , revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat there were approximately 15 million devices with a vulnerable Broadcom UPnP implementation . It ’ s difficult to tell how many of these devices are still vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitybut , as DefenseCode ’ s Leon Juranic pointed out to me , users rarely ( if ever ) update their router ’ s firmware , so there are bound to be still many of them . And given how many people have watched and analyzed their technical video of the exploit in action over the years , obviously many are interested in it . Still , I think we can all agree , four years is more than enough time for patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, and nobody can fault them for publishing the exploit . Hopefully , if there are manufacturers that still haven ’ t pushed outVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch they ’ ll do it now , but this is could also be a welcome impetus for users to update their router ’ s firmware – especially those that haven ’ t done it for years . Whitepapers and offers
Polish security expert Dawid Golunski has discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya zero-day in the WordPress password reset mechanism that would allow an attacker to obtain the password reset link , under certain circumstances . The researcher published his findingsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityyesterday , after reportingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaw to the WordPress security team last July . After more than ten months and no progress , Golunski decided to go public and informVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityWordPress site owners of this issue so they could protect their sites by other means . The issue , trackedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityvia the CVE-2017-8295 identifier , affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityall WordPress versions and is related to how WordPress sites put together the password reset emails . According to Golunski , an attacker can craft a malicious HTTP request that triggers a tainted password reset operation by injecting a custom SERVER_NAME variable , such as `` attacker-domain.com '' . This means that when the WordPress site puts together the password reset email , the `` From '' and `` Return-Path '' values will be in the form of `` wordpress @ attacker-domain.com '' . Most users would think this zero-day is useless , as the attacker would n't achieve anything more than sendingAttack.Phishinga password reset email to the legitimate site owner , but from the wrong Sender address . These complex exploitation scenarios are most likely the main reason why the WordPress team has not prioritized patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis issue until now . The same opinion is shared by security experts from Sucuri , a vendor of web-based security products , recently acquired by GoDaddy . `` The vulnerability existsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, but is not as critical as advertised for several reasons , '' said Sucuri vulnerability researcher Marc Montpas . `` The whole attack relies on the fact that the victim 's email is not accessible at the time the attack is occurring , which greatly reduces the chance of a successful attack . '' His colleague , Denis Sinegubko , also shared his thoughts on the issue . `` After a brief reading and assuming the attack works , it has limited impact as it requires an individual site to be accessible by IP address , so will not work for most sites on shared servers . Only for poorly configured dedicated servers . '' `` The whole attack scenario is theoretically possible but in practice , I do n't see thousands of sites getting hacked because of this vulnerability any time soon , '' Montpas added . But if some users are not willing to take risks , webmasters managing high-value sites looking for a way to prevent exploitation of this zero-day have some options at their dispossable . `` As a temporary solution users can enable UseCanonicalName to enforce [ a ] static SERVER_NAME value , '' Golunski proposes . On Reddit , other users also recommended that site owners `` create a dummy vhost that catches all requests with unrecognized Host headers . '' Depending on your technical prowess , you can also experiment with other mitigations discussed in this Reddit thread , at least until the WordPress team patchesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis issue .
A remote hijacking flaw that lurked in Intel chips for seven years was more severe than many people imagined , because it allowed hackers to remotely gain administrative control over huge fleets of computers without entering a password . This is according to technical analyses published Friday . Further ReadingIntel patchesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityremote hijacking vulnerability that lurked in chips for 7 years . As Ars reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityMonday , the authentication bypass vulnerability resides inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya feature known as Active Management Technology . AMT , as it 's usually called , allows system administrators to perform a variety of powerful tasks over a remote connection . Among the capabilities : changing the code that boots up computers , accessing the computer 's mouse , keyboard , and monitor , loading and executing programs , and remotely powering on computers that are turned off . In short , AMT makes it possible to log into a computer and exercise the same control enjoyed by administrators with physical access . AMT , which is available with many vPro processors , was set up to require a password before it could be remotely accessed over a Web browser interface . But , remarkably , that authentication mechanism can be bypassed by entering no text at all . According to a blog post published Friday by Tenable Network Security , the cryptographic hash that the interface 's digest access authentication requires to verify someone is authorized to log in can be anything at all , including no string at all . `` Authentication still worked '' even when the wrong hash was entered , Tenable Director of Reverse Engineering Carlos Perez wrote . `` We had discovered a complete bypass of the authentication scheme . '' A separate technical analysis from Embedi , the security firm Intel credited with first disclosingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability , arrived at the same conclusion . Embedi e-mailed the analysis to reporters , but did n't publish it online . Making matters worse , unauthorized accesses typically are n't logged by the PC because AMT has direct access to the computer 's network hardware . When AMT is enabled , all network packets are redirected to the Intel Management Engine and from there to the AMT . The packets bypass the OS completely . The vulnerable management features were made available in some but not all Intel chipsets starting in 2010 , Embedi has said . In a blog post published Friday , Intel officials said they expect PC makers to releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch next week . The releases will updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityIntel firmware , meaning patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywill require that each vulnerable chip set is reflashed . In the meantime , Intel is urging customers to download and run this discovery tool to diagnose potentially vulnerable computers . Systems that test positive should be temporarily secured using this mitigation guide until a patch is suppliedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. Computer makers Fujitsu , HP , and Lenovo , have also issued advisories for specific models they sell .
Details on serious vulnerabilities in a number of routers freely distributed by a major Thai ISP were published onVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityMonday after private disclosuresVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitymade to the vendors in July went unanswered . Researcher Pedro Ribeiro of Agile Information Security foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityaccessible admin accounts and command injection vulnerabilities in ZyXel and Billion routers distributed by TrueOnline , Thailand ’ s largest broadband company . Ribeiro saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityhe disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerabilities through Beyond Security ’ s SecuriTeam Secure Disclosure Program , which contacted the affected vendors last July . Ribeiro publishedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya proof of concept exploit yesterday as well . Ribeiro toldVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityThreatpost he ’ s unsure whether TrueOnline introducedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerabilities as it adds its own customization to the routers , or whether they came from the respective manufacturers . A ZyXel representative told Threatpost the router models are no longer supported and would not comment on whether patches were being developedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. A request for comment from Billion was not returned in time for publication . The commonality between the routers appears to be that they ’ re all based on the TC3162U system-on-a-chip manufactured by TrendChip . Affected routers are the ZyXel P660HN-T v1 and P660HN-T v2 , and Billion 5200 W-T , currently in distribution to TrueOnline customers . The TC3162U chips run two different firmware variants , one called “ ras ” which includes the Allegro RomPage webserver vulnerable to the Misfortne Cookie attacks , and the other called tclinux . The tclinux variant contains the vulnerabilities foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Ribeiro , in particular several ASP files , he saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, are vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto command injection attacks . He also cautions that they could be also vulnerable to Misfortune Cookie , but he did not investigate this possibility . “ It should be noted that tclinux contains files and configuration settings in other languages ( for example in Turkish ) . Therefore it is likely that these firmware versions are not specific to TrueOnline , and other ISP customised routers in other countries might also be vulnerable , ” Ribeiro said in his advisory . “ It is also possible that other brands and router models that use the tclinux variant are also affectedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby the command injection vulnerabilities ( the default accounts are likely to be TrueOnline specific ) ” . In addition to Ribeiro ’ s proof-of-concept , Metasploit modules are availableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityfor three of the vulnerabilities . Most of the vulnerabilities can be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityremotely , some without authentication . “ These vulnerabilities are present in the web interface . The default credentials are part of the firmware deployed by TrueOnline and they are authorized to perform remote access over the WAN , ” Ribeiro said . “ Due to time and lab constraints I was unable to test whether these routers expose the web interface over the WAN , but given the credentials , it is likely ” . The ZyXel P660HN-T v1 router is vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto an unauthenticated command injection attack that can be exploited remotely . Ribeiro saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityhe foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability in the remote system log forwarding function , specifically in the ViewLog.asp page . V2 of the same router containsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe same vulnerability , but can not be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitywithout authentication , he said . “ Unlike in the P660HN-Tv1 , the injection is authenticated and in the logSet.asp page . However , this router contains a hardcoded supervisor password that can be used to exploit this vulnerability , ” Ribeiro said . “ The injection is in the logSet.asp page that sets up remote forwarding of syslog logs , and the parameter vulnerable to injection is the serverIP parameter ” . The Billion 5200W-T is also vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto unauthenticated and authenticated command injection attacks ; the vulnerability was foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin its adv_remotelog.asp page . “ The Billion 5200W-T router also has several other command injections in its interface , depending on the firmware version , such as an authenticated command injection in tools_time.asp ( uiViewSNTPServer parameter ) , ” Ribeiro said . It should be noted that this router contains several hardcoded administrative accounts that can be used to exploit this vulnerability ” . Ribeiro said default and weak admin credentials were found on the all of the versions and were accessible remotely . The researcher said it ’ s unknown whether the routers can be patched remotely . “ Again , given the existence of default credentials that have remote access , it is likely that it is possible to update the firmware remotely , ” Ribeiro said . Most of iBall baton routers in India are also vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto unauthenticated and authenticated command injection attack , i have reason to believe default and weak admin credentials are on the all of the versions and were accessible remotely . i Have I “ Ball WRA150N ” ADSL2+ iBall baton Router.And IBall is never accepting not even taking response to complains and request for latest firmware patches . ASUS patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya bug that allowed attackers to pair two vulnerabilities to gain direct router access and execute commands as root . Thanks to Meltdown and Spectre , January has already been an extremely busy month of patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfor Microsoft .
A flaw in unpatched versions of Window 10 could leave machines vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto EternalBlue , the remote kernel exploit behind the recent WannaCry ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. WannaCry targeted a Server Message Block ( SMB ) critical vulnerability that Microsoft patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywith MS17-010 on March 14 , 2017 . While WannaCry damageAttack.Ransomwas mostly limited to machines running Windows 7 , a different version of EternalBlue could infect Windows 10 . Researchers at RiskSense stripped the original leaked version of EternalBlue down to its essential components and deemed parts of the data unnecessary for exploitation . They found they could bypass detection rules recommended by governments and antivirus vendors , says RiskSense senior security researcher Sean Dillon . This version of EternalBlue , an exploit initially released by Shadow Brokers earlier this year , does not use the DoublePulsar payload common among other exploits leaked by the hacker group . DoublePulsar was the main implant used in WannaCryAttack.Ransomand a key focus for defenders . `` That backdoor is unnecessary , '' says Dillon , noting how it 's dangerous for businesses to only focus on DoublePulsar malware . `` This exploit could directly load malware onto the system without needing to install the backdoor . '' EternalBlue gives instant un-credentialed remote access to Windows machines without the MS17-010 patch update . While it 's difficult to port EternalBlue to additional versions of Windows , it 's not impossible . Unpatched Windows 10 machines are at risk , despite the fact that Microsoft 's newest OS receives exploit mitigations that earlier versions do n't . The slimmed-down EternalBlue can be ported to unpatched versions of Windows 10 and deliver stealthier payloads . An advanced malware would be able to target any Windows machine , broadening the spread of an attack like WannaCry , Dillon explains . It 's worth noting WannaCry was a blatant , obvious attack , he says , and other types of malware , like banking spyware and bitcoin miners , could more easily fly under the radar . `` These can infect a network and you wo n't know about it until years later , '' he says . `` It 's a threat to organizations that have been targets , like governments and corporations . Attackers may try to get onto these networks and lay dormant … then stealAttack.Databreachintellectual property or cause other damage . '' Dillon emphasizes the importance of updatingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto the latest version of Windows 10 , but says patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityalone wo n't give complete protection from this kind of threat . Businesses with SMB facing the Internet should also put up firewalls , and set up VPN access for users who need external access to the internal network . Businesses should have a good inventory of software and devices on their networks , along with processes for identifying and deployingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitypatches as they are releasedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, says Craig Young , computer security researcher for Tripwire 's Vulnerability and Exposures Research Team ( VERT ) . This will become even more critical as attackers move quickly from patch to exploit . There will always be a window of opportunity for attackers before the right patches are installedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, Young notes . EternalBlue is a `` very fresh vulnerability '' given that most breaches that use exploits leverage flaws that have been publicly knownVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityfor an average of two years or more . `` EternalBlue is a particularly reliable exploit that gives access to execute code at the very highest privilege level , so I would expect that hackers and penetration testers will get a lot of use out of it for years to come , '' he says .
Home routers are the first and sometimes last line of defense for a network . Despite this fact , many manufacturers of home routers fail to properly audit their devices for security issues before releasing them to the market . As security researchers , we are often disappointed to rediscover that this is not always the case , and that sometimes these vulnerabilities simply fall into our hands during our day-to-day lives . Such is the story of the two NETGEAR vulnerabilities I want to shareVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitywith you today : It was a cold and rainy winter night , almost a year ago , when my lovely NETGEAR VEGN2610 modem/router lost connection to the Internet . I was tucked in bed , cozy and warm , there was no way I was going downstairs to reset the modem , `` I will just reboot it through the web panel '' I thought to myself . Unfortunately I could n't remember the password and it was too late at night to check whether my roommates had it . I considered my options : Needless to say , I chose the latter . I thought to myself , `` Well , it has a web interface and I need to bypass the authentication somehow , so the web server is a good start . '' I started manually fuzzing the web server with different parameters , I tried `` .. / .. '' classic directory traversal and such , and after about 1 minute of fuzzing , I tried `` … '' and I got this response : Fig 1 : unauth.cgi `` Hmm , what is that unauth.cgi thingy ? Luckily for me the Internet connection had come back on its own , but I was now a man on a mission , so I started to look around to see if there were any known vulnerabilities for my VEGN2610 . I started looking up what that `` unauth.cgi '' page could be , and I found 2 publicly disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityexploits from 2014 , for different models that manage to do unauthenticated password disclosure . Those two guys found outVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat the number we get from unauth.cgi can be used with passwordrecovered.cgi to retrieve the credentials . I tested the method described in both , and voila - I have my password , now I can go to sleep happy and satisfied . I woke up the next morning excited by the discovery , I thought to myself : `` 3 routers with same issue… Coincidence ? Luckily , I had another , older NETGEAR router laying around ; I tested it and bam ! I started asking people I knew if they have NETGEAR equipment so I could test further to see the scope of the issue . In order to make life easier for non-technical people I wrote a python script called netgore , similar to wnroast , to test for this issue . I am aware of that and that is why I do n't work as a full time programmer . As it turned out , I had an error in my code where it did n't correctly take the number from unauth.cgi and passed gibberish to passwordrecovered.cgi instead , but somehow it still managed to get the credentials ! After few trials and errors trying to reproduce the issue , I foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat the very first call to passwordrecovered.cgi will give out the credentials no matter what the parameter you send . This is totally new bug that I have n't seen anywhere else . When I tested both bugs on different NETGEAR models , I foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat my second bug works on a much wider range of models . A full description of both of these findings as well as the python script used for testing can be found here . The vulnerabilities have been assignedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityCVE-2017-5521 and TWSL2017-003 . The Responsible Disclosure Process This is where the story of discovery ends and the story of disclosure begins . Following our Responsible Disclosure policy we sent both findingsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto NETGEAR in the beginning of April 2016 . In our initial contact , the first advisory had 18 models listed as vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, although six of them did n't have the vulnerability in the latest firmware . Perhaps it was fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityas part of a different patch cycle . The second advisory included 25 models , all of which were vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin their latest firmware version . In June NETGEAR published a notice that providedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya fix for a small subset of vulnerable routers and a workaround for the rest . They also made the commitment to working toward 100 % coverage for all affected routers . The notice has been updated several time since then and currently contains 31 vulnerable models , 18 of which are patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitynow , and 2 models that they previously listed as vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, but are now listed as not vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. In fact , our tests show that one of the models listed as not vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability( DGN2200v4 ) is , in fact , vulnerable and this can easily be reproduced with the POC provided in our advisory . Over the past nine months we attempted to contact NETGEAR multiple times for clarification and to allow them time to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymore models . Over that time we have foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitymore vulnerable models that were not listed in the initial notice , although they were added later . We also discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat the Lenovo R3220 router is powered by NETGEAR firmware and it was vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityas well . Luckily NETGEAR did eventually get back to us right before we were set to discloseVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythese vulnerabilities publicly . We were a little skeptical since our experience to date matched that of other third-party vulnerability researchers that have tried to responsibly discloseVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto NETGEAR only to be met with frustration . The first was that NETGEAR committed to pushing out firmware to the currently unpatched models on an aggressive timeline . The second change made us more confident that NETGEAR was not just serious about patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese vulnerabilities , but serious about changing how they handle third-party disclosure in general . We fully expect this move will not only smooth the relationship between third-party researchers and NETGEAR , but , in the end , will result in a more secure line of products and services . For starters , it affects a large number of models . We have foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitymore than ten thousand vulnerable devices that are remotely accessible . The real number of affected devices is probably in the hundreds of thousands , if not over a million . The vulnerability can be used by a remote attacker if remote administration is set to be Internet facing .
A miscreant using the handle @ cyberzeist claimsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto have infiltrated Plone CMS used by FBI.gov , using a zero day flaw allegedly for sale on an unnamed dark web site . The Register has contacted the FBI to confirm the allegations . The agency was not immediately available for comment – although a staffer said they were aware of the alleged break-in . Cyberzeist claims to have conducted the hack last month and has posted to Twitter what they claim are screen captures showing the FBI patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityagainst the vulnerability , which appeared to permit public access . The hacker dumpedAttack.Databreachthe 155 purported stolen credentials to online clipboard pastebin , claimingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya vulnerability resides inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya Plone Python module . Cyberzeist also claimed the FBI contacted the hacker requesting a copy of the stolen credentials , which they declined to provide . The hacker reckoned the CMS was hosted on a virtual machine running a custom FreeBSD . They said they will tweet the zero day flaw once it is no longer for sale .
In a string of attacks that have escalated over the past 48 hours , hackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability that allows them to take almost complete control of Web servers used by banks , government agencies , and large Internet companies . The code-execution bug resides inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe Apache Struts 2 Web application framework and is trivial to exploit . Although maintainers of the open source project patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe vulnerability on Monday , it remains under attack by hackers who are exploiting it to inject commands of their choice into Struts servers that have yet to install the update , researchers are warningVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. Making matters worse , at least two working exploits are publicly available . `` We have dedicated hours to reporting to companies , governments , manufacturers , and even individuals to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityand correct the vulnerability as soon as possible , but the exploit has already jumped to the big pages of 'advisories , ' and massive attempts to exploit the Internet have already been observed . '' Researchers at Cisco Systems said they are seeing a `` high number of exploitation events '' by hackers attempting to carry out a variety of malicious acts . One series of commands that attackers are injecting into webpages stops the firewall protecting the server and then downloads and executes malware of the attacker 's choice . The payloads include `` IRC bouncers , '' which allow the attackers to hide their real IP address during Internet chats ; denial-of-service bots ; and various other packages that conscript a server into a botnet . `` These are several of the many examples of attacks we are currently observing and blocking , '' Cisco 's Nick Biasini wrote . `` They fall into two broad categories : probing and malware distribution . The payloads being delivered vary considerably , and to their credit , many of the sites have already been taken down and the payloads are no longer available . '' The vulnerability resides inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitywhat 's known as the Jakarta file upload multipart parser , which according to official Apache Struts 2 documentation is a standard part of the framework and needs only a supporting library to function . Apache Struts versions affected byVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability include Struts 2.3.5 through 2.3.31 , and 2.5 through 2.5.10 . Servers running any of these versions should upgrade toVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability2.3.32 or 2.5.10.1 immediately . It 's not clear why the vulnerability is being exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityso widely 48 hours after a patch was releasedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. One possibility is that the Apache Struts maintainers did n't adequately communicate the risk . Although they categorizeVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability security rating as high , they also describeVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityit as posing a `` possible remote code execution '' risk . Outside researchers , meanwhile , have said the exploits are trivial to carry out , are highly reliable , and require no authentication . It 's also easy to scan the Internet for vulnerable servers . It 's also possible to exploit the bug even if a Web application does n't implement file upload functionality . Update 3/9/2017 10:07 California time : In a comment to this post , Ars Technology Editor Peter Bright providesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya much more plausible explanation for the delay in patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis highly critical vulnerability . Most bug fixesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, he pointed out , require downloading and installing a patch , possibly rebooting a machine , and being done with it .
Cisco 's Talos says they 've observedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityactive attacks against a Zero-Day vulnerability in Apache 's Struts , a popular Java application framework . Cisco started investigatingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability shortly after it was disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, and foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya number of active attacks . In an advisory issued on Monday , Apache saysVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe problem with Struts exists within the Jakarta Multipart parser . `` It is possible to perform a RCE attack with a malicious Content-Type value . If the Content-Type value is n't valid an exception is thrown which is then used to display an error message to a user , '' the warning explained . `` If you are using Jakarta based file upload Multipart parser , upgradeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto Apache Struts version 2.3.32 or 2.5.10.1 . You can also switch to a different implementation of the Multipart parser . '' The alternative is the Pell parser plugin , which uses Jason Pell 's multipart parser instead of the Common-FileUpload library , Apache explains . In addition , administrators concerned about the issue could just apply the proper updates , which are currently availableVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. In a blog post , Cisco said they discovered a number of attacks that seem to be leveraging a publicly released proof-of-concept to run various commands . Such commands include simple ones ( 'whoami ' ) as well as more sophisticated ones , including pulling down malicious ELF executable and running it . An example of one attack , which attempts to copy the file to a harmless directory , ensure the executable runs , and that the firewall is disabled is boot-up , is below : Both Cisco and Apache urge administrators to take action , either by patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityor ensuring their systems are not vulnerable . This is n't the first time the Struts platform has come under attack . In 2013 , Chinese hackers were using an automated tool to exploit known vulnerabilities in order to install a backdoor .