The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company (CISA) is warning that it has noticed menace actors leveraging unencrypted persistent cookies managed by the F5 BIG-IP Native Site visitors Supervisor (LTM) module to conduct reconnaissance of goal networks.
It mentioned the module is getting used to enumerate different non-internet-facing units on the community. The company, nevertheless, didn’t disclose who’s behind the exercise, or what the top objectives of the marketing campaign are.
“A malicious cyber actor might leverage the knowledge gathered from unencrypted persistence cookies to deduce or establish extra community assets and doubtlessly exploit vulnerabilities present in different units current on the community,” CISA mentioned in an advisory.
It has additionally really helpful organizations encrypt persistent cookies employed in F5 BIG-IP units by configuring cookie encryption throughout the HTTP profile. Moreover, it is urging customers to confirm the safety of their methods by operating a diagnostic utility offered by F5 known as BIG-IP iHealth to establish potential points.
“The BIG-IP iHealth Diagnostics element of the BIG-IP iHealth system evaluates the logs, command output, and configuration of your BIG-IP system in opposition to a database of identified points, widespread errors, and printed F5 finest practices,” F5 notes in a help doc.
“The prioritized outcomes present tailor-made suggestions about configuration points or code defects and supply an outline of the problem, [and] suggestions for decision.”
The disclosure comes as cybersecurity companies from the U.Ok. and the U.S. have printed a joint bulletin detailing Russian state-sponsored actors’ makes an attempt to focus on diplomatic, protection, expertise, and finance sectors to gather overseas intelligence and allow future cyber operations.
The exercise has been attributed to a menace actor tracked as APT29, which is also called BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, and Midnight Blizzard. APT29 is known to be a key cog within the Russian army intelligence machine and is affiliated with the Overseas Intelligence Service (SVR).
“SVR cyber intrusions embody a heavy deal with remaining nameless and undetected. The actors use TOR extensively all through intrusions – from preliminary concentrating on to knowledge assortment – and throughout community infrastructure,” the companies mentioned.
“The actors lease operational infrastructure utilizing a wide range of pretend identities and low status e mail accounts. The SVR obtains infrastructure from resellers of main internet hosting suppliers.”
Attacks mounted by APT29 have been categorized as these designed to reap intelligence and set up persistent entry in order to facilitate provide chain compromises (i.e., targets of intent), in addition to people who enable them to host malicious infrastructure or conduct follow-on operations from compromised accounts by profiting from publicly identified flaws, weak credentials, or different misconfigurations (i.e., targets of alternative).
A few of the important security vulnerabilities highlighted embody CVE-2022-27924, a command injection flaw in Zimbra Collaboration, and CVE-2023-42793, a vital authentication bypass bug that enables for distant code execution on TeamCity Server.
APT29 is a related instance of menace actors constantly innovating their ways, strategies and procedures in an try to remain stealthy and circumvent defenses, even going to the extent of destroying their infrastructure and erasing any proof ought to it suspect their intrusions have been detected, both by the sufferer or regulation enforcement.
One other notable approach is the in depth use of proxy networks, comprising cell phone suppliers or residential web providers, to work together with victims situated in North America and mix in with reputable site visitors.
“To disrupt this exercise, organizations ought to baseline approved units and apply extra scrutiny to methods accessing their community assets that don’t adhere to the baseline,” the companies mentioned.
