Conti Leaks Reveal Ransomware Gang’s Interest in Firmware-based Attacks

An investigation of leaked chats from the notorious Conti ransomware team before this calendar year has disclosed that the syndicate has been working on a set of firmware attack approaches that could supply a path to accessing privileged code on compromised products.

“Management around firmware presents attackers nearly unmatched powers the two to directly result in injury and to permit other extended-time period strategic plans,” firmware and components security agency Eclypsium said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

“This kind of stage of entry would allow an adversary to trigger irreparable hurt to a procedure or to establish ongoing persistence that is practically invisible to the working technique.”

Specially, this consists of attacks aimed at embedded microcontrollers these kinds of as the Intel Administration Motor (ME), a privileged part that’s part of the company’s processor chipsets and which can completely bypass the operating system.

The discussions amongst the Conti associates, which leaked right after the group pledged its aid to Russia in the latter’s invasion of Ukraine, have get rid of mild on the syndicate’s tries to mine for vulnerabilities linked to ME firmware and BIOS publish security.

This entailed obtaining undocumented instructions and vulnerabilities in the ME interface, obtaining code execution in the ME to access and rewrite the SPI flash memory, and dropping System Management Method (SMM)-degree implants, which could be leveraged to even modify the kernel.

The exploration eventually manifested in the type of a proof-of-notion (PoC) code in June 2021 that can attain SMM code execution by gaining command in excess of the ME immediately after getting preliminary obtain to the host by usually means of regular vectors like phishing, malware, or a supply chain compromise, the leaked chats exhibit.

“By shifting aim to Intel ME as effectively as concentrating on products in which the BIOS is generate secured, attackers could very easily locate considerably a lot more available goal gadgets,” the scientists explained.

Which is not all. Management above the firmware could also be exploited to achieve long-time period persistence, evade security alternatives, and result in irreparable method hurt, enabling the threat actor to mount destructive assaults as witnessed through the Russo-Ukrainian war.

“The Conti leaks exposed a strategic change that moves firmware attacks even further absent from the prying eyes of regular security applications,” the scientists mentioned.

“The change to ME firmware provides attackers a much bigger pool of prospective victims to attack, and a new avenue to achieving the most privileged code and execution modes offered on modern-day techniques.”

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