Citrix NetScaler Alert: Ransomware Hackers Exploiting Critical Vulnerability

Unpatched Citrix NetScaler units exposed to the internet are becoming focused by unidentified threat actors in what is suspected to be a ransomware attack.

Cybersecurity enterprise Sophos is monitoring the exercise cluster under the moniker STAC4663.

Attack chains involve the exploitation of CVE-2023-3519, a critical code injection vulnerability impacting NetScaler ADC and Gateway servers that could facilitate unauthenticated distant code execution.

In just one intrusion detected in mid-August 2023, the security flaw is mentioned to have been used to carry out a area-large attack, which include injecting payloads into legitimate executables such as the Windows Update Agent (wuauclt.exe) and the Windows Management Instrumentation Provider Provider (wmiprvse.exe). An evaluation of the payload is underway.

Other notable elements include things like the distribution of obfuscated PowerShell scripts, PHP web shells, and the use of an Estonian support termed BlueVPS for malware staging.

Sophos stated the modus operandi aligns “closely” with that of an attack marketing campaign that NCC Group Fox-IT disclosed earlier this thirty day period in which approximately 2,000 Citrix NetScaler techniques were breached.

The attacks are also said to be connected to an earlier incident that utilized the exact same approaches minus the Citrix vulnerability. Indicators of compromise (IoCs) connected with the campaign can be accessed listed here.

“All this sales opportunities us to say it truly is probable that this is exercise from a regarded danger actor specializing in ransomware attacks,” the company said in a collection of posts on X.

Customers of Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway appliances are extremely encouraged to apply the patches to mitigate likely threats.

The improvement arrives as ransomware is on monitor to scale new highs in 2023, as menace actors are speedily escalating their assaults by harnessing security flaws in extensively applied software program to breach concentrate on environments.

This has been accompanied by a surge in cybercrime groups spawning new ransomware strains (e.g., DoDo, Proton, and Trash Panda) as very well as transferring much more promptly to compromise businesses at the time they have attained initial obtain, an sign that the attackers are receiving much better at honing their method of thieving and encrypting information.

Even though most ransomware gangs continue on to go after double or triple extortion schemes, some teams have been observed pivoting from encryption to a simpler theft-and-extortion system, which is referred to as an encryptionless extortion attack.

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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com