Tag Archive for: flaws

Apple Releases Patches for Actively Exploited Flaws in iOS, macOS, and Safari

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Jun 22, 2023Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Endpoint Security

iOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple on Wednesday released a slew of updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari browser to address a set of flaws it said were actively exploited in the wild.

This includes a pair of zero-days that have been weaponized in a mobile surveillance campaign called Operation Triangulation that has been active since 2019. The exact threat actor behind the activity is not known.

  • CVE-2023-32434 – An integer overflow vulnerability in the Kernel that could be exploited by a malicious app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • CVE-2023-32435 – A memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content.

The iPhone maker said it’s aware that the two issues “may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7,” crediting Kaspersky researchers Georgy Kucherin, Leonid Bezvershenko, and Boris Larin for reporting them.

The advisory comes as the Russian cybersecurity vendor dissected the spyware implant used in the zero-click attack campaign targeting iOS devices via iMessages carrying an attachment embedded with an exploit for the kernel remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability.

The exploit code is also engineered to download additional components to obtain root privileges on the target device, after which the backdoor is deployed in memory and the initial iMessage is deleted to conceal the infection trail.

The sophisticated implant, called TriangleDB, operates solely in the memory, leaving no traces of the activity following a device reboot. It also comes with diverse data collection and tracking capabilities.

Cybersecurity

This includes “interacting with the device’s file system (including file creation, modification, exfiltration, and removal), managing processes (listing and termination), extracting keychain items to gather victim credentials, and monitoring the victim’s geolocation, among others.”

In an attempt to complete the attack puzzle and gather its different moving parts, Kaspersky has released a utility called “triangle_check” that organizations can use to scan iOS device backups and hunt for any signs of…

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Minneapolis students use ‘Rickroll’ prank to highlight district computer security flaws

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Updated 10 p.m.

Two Minneapolis Public Schools students used an email prank Friday to draw attention to what they say are more security flaws in the district’s computer systems.

The teens, who described themselves as members of Washburn High School’s class of 2025, sent a mass email from a district account to staff and students.

Couched as a Rickroll joke, in which a prankster tricks their target into listening to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the email linked to a detailed report that the teens wrote detailing the problems that they found, including easily accessible student photos and usernames.

Ian Coldwater, a Minneapolis-based professional hacker who helps their clients find vulnerabilities in computer systems, said in a phone interview Friday that the students uncovered serious security flaws.

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“There are things that are accessible from within the network that shouldn’t be,” Coldwater said. “There should be extra layers of having to be authorized to see some of this stuff, even if you are connected to the school network.”

The teens wrote in their report that a March ransomware attack targeting the district inspired them to investigate other potential information technology problems.

Coldwater, who reviewed the report for MPR News, said that the students included suggested fixes and were careful not to publish private data.

“Their work is solid,” Coldwater said. “I hope that people see their talent, see their desire and commitment to act ethically and help them cultivate it, channel it in good directions, hire them to help fix this rather than punishing them.”

The teens wrote that they were not able to access their fellow students’ grades, but that potential security flaws with Chromebook laptops could enable “academic cheating and dishonesty” when the computers are used for standardized testing.

In an email to MPR News Friday afternoon, district spokesperson Crystina Lugo-Beach downplayed this latest incident.

“This was NOT a hack, but an internal email sent out by a group of students using…

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Minneapolis students use “Rickroll” prank to highlight district computer security flaws

/in


Updated: 10:00 p.m.

Two Minneapolis Public Schools students used an email prank Friday to draw attention to what they say are more security flaws in the district’s computer systems.

The teens, who described themselves as members of Washburn High School’s class of 2025, sent a mass email from a district account to staff and students.

Couched as a Rickroll joke, in which a prankster tricks their target into listening to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the email linked to a detailed report that the teens wrote detailing the problems that they found, including easily accessible student photos and usernames.

Ian Coldwater, a Minneapolis-based professional hacker who helps their clients find vulnerabilities in computer systems, said in a phone interview Friday that the students uncovered serious security flaws.

MPR News is Member supported public media. Show your support today, donate, and ensure access to local news and in-depth conversations for everyone.

“There are things that are accessible from within the network that shouldn’t be,” Coldwater said. “There should be extra layers of having to be authorized to see some of this stuff, even if you are connected to the school network.”

The teens wrote in their report that a March ransomware attack targeting the district inspired them to investigate other potential information technology problems.

Coldwater, who reviewed the report for MPR News, said that the students included suggested fixes and were careful not to publish private data.

“Their work is solid,” Coldwater said. “I hope that people see their talent, see their desire and commitment to act ethically and help them cultivate it, channel it in good directions, hire them to help fix this rather than punishing them.”

The teens wrote that they were not able to access their fellow students’ grades, but that potential security flaws with Chromebook laptops could enable “academic cheating and dishonesty” when the computers are used for standardized testing.

In an email to MPR News Friday afternoon, district spokesperson Crystina Lugo-Beach downplayed this latest incident.

“This was NOT a hack, but an internal email sent out by a group of students…

Source…

Netgear Routers’ Flaws Expose Users to Malware, Remote Attacks, and Surveillance

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May 12, 2023Ravie LakshmananNetwork Security / Malware

Netgear

As many as five security flaws have been disclosed in Netgear RAX30 routers that could be chained to bypass authentication and achieve remote code execution.

“Successful exploits could allow attackers to monitor users’ internet activity, hijack internet connections, and redirect traffic to malicious websites or inject malware into network traffic,” Claroty security researcher Uri Katz said in a report.

Additionally, a network-adjacent threat actor could also weaponize the flaws to access and control networked smart devices like security cameras, thermostats, smart locks; tamper with router settings, and even use a compromised network to launch attacks against other devices or networks.

Cybersecurity

The list of flaws, which were demonstrated at the Pwn2Own hacking competition held at Toronto in December 2022, is as follows –

  • CVE-2023-27357 (CVSS score: 6.5) – Missing Authentication Information Disclosure Vulnerability
  • CVE-2023-27368 (CVSS score: 8.8) – Stack-based Buffer Overflow Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
  • CVE-2023-27369 (CVSS score: 8.8) – Stack-based Buffer Overflow Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
  • CVE-2023-27370 (CVSS score: 5.7) – Device Configuration Cleartext Storage Information Disclosure Vulnerability
  • CVE-2023-27367 (CVSS score: 8.0) – Command Injection Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Netgear

A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit chain illustrated by the industrial cybersecurity firm shows that it’s possible to string the flaws — CVE-2023-27357, CVE-2023-27369, CVE-2023-27368, CVE-2023-27370, and CVE-2023-27367 (in that order) — to extract the device serial number and ultimately obtain root access to it.

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“These five CVEs can be chained together to compromise affected RAX30 routers, the most severe of which enable pre-authentication remote code execution on the device,” Katz noted.

Users of Netgear RAX30 routers are advised to update to firmware version 1.0.10.94 released by the networking company on April 7, 2023, to…

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