New Terrapin Flaw Could Let Attackers Downgrade SSH Protocol Security

Security researchers from Ruhr University Bochum have discovered a vulnerability in the Secure Shell (SSH) cryptographic network protocol that could allow an attacker to downgrade the connection's security by breaking the integrity of the secure channel. Called Terrapin (CVE-2023-48795, CVSS score: 5.9), the exploit has been described as the "first ever practically exploitable prefix

Warning: Poorly Secured Linux SSH Servers Under Attack for Cryptocurrency Mining

Poorly secured Linux SSH servers are being targeted by bad actors to install port scanners and dictionary attack tools with the goal of targeting other vulnerable servers and co-opting them into a network to carry out cryptocurrency mining and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. "Threat actors can also choose to install only scanners and sell the breached IP and account credentials on

Experts Uncover Passive Method to Extract Private RSA Keys from SSH Connections

A new study has demonstrated that it's possible for passive network attackers to obtain private RSA host keys from a vulnerable SSH server by observing when naturally occurring computational faults that occur while the connection is being established. The Secure Shell (SSH) protocol is a method for securely transmitting commands and logging in to a computer over an unsecured network. Based on a

PoC Exploit Released for Critical VMware Aria's SSH Auth Bypass Vulnerability

Proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code has been made available for a recently disclosed and patched critical flaw impacting VMware Aria Operations for Networks (formerly vRealize Network Insight). The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-34039, is rated 9.8 out of a maximum of 10 for severity and has been described as a case of authentication bypass due to a lack of unique cryptographic key generation. “A

New OpenSSH Vulnerability Exposes Linux Systems to Remote Command Injection

Details have emerged about a now-patched flaw in OpenSSH that could be potentially exploited to run arbitrary commands remotely on compromised hosts under specific conditions. "This vulnerability allows a remote attacker to potentially execute arbitrary commands on vulnerable OpenSSH's forwarded ssh-agent," Saeed Abbasi, manager of vulnerability research at Qualys, said in an analysis last week.

New Cryptocurrency Mining Campaign Targets Linux Systems and IoT Devices

Internet-facing Linux systems and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are being targeted as part of a new campaign designed to illicitly mine cryptocurrency. "The threat actors behind the attack use a backdoor that deploys a wide array of tools and components such as rootkits and an IRC bot to steal device resources for mining operations," Microsoft threat intelligence researcher Rotem Sde-Or said.

Beware bad passwords as attackers co-opt Linux servers into cybercrime

Did you prevent password-only logins on your SSH servers? On ALL of them? Are you sure about that?

Legion Malware Upgraded to Target SSH Servers and AWS Credentials

An updated version of the commodity malware called Legion comes with expanded features to compromise SSH servers and Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials associated with DynamoDB and CloudWatch. "This recent update demonstrates a widening of scope, with new capabilities such the ability to compromise SSH servers and retrieve additional AWS-specific credentials from Laravel web applications,"

Notorious Cyber Gang FIN7 Returns With Cl0p Ransomware in New Wave of Attacks

The notorious cybercrime group known as FIN7 has been observed deploying Cl0p (aka Clop) ransomware, marking the threat actor's first ransomware campaign since late 2021. Microsoft, which detected the activity in April 2023, is tracking the financially motivated actor under its new taxonomy Sangria Tempest. "In these recent attacks, Sangria Tempest uses the PowerShell script POWERTRASH to load

New ShellBot DDoS Malware Variants Targeting Poorly Managed Linux Servers

Poorly managed Linux SSH servers are being targeted as part of a new campaign that deploys different variants of a malware called ShellBot. "ShellBot, also known as PerlBot, is a DDoS Bot malware developed in Perl and characteristically uses IRC protocol to communicate with the C&C server," AhnLab Security Emergency response Center (ASEC) said in a report. ShellBot is installed on servers that

S3 Ep121: Can you get hacked and then prosecuted for it? [Audio + Text]

Latest epsiode. Listen now!

OpenSSH Releases Patch for New Pre-Auth Double Free Vulnerability

The maintainers of OpenSSH have released OpenSSH 9.2 to address a number of security bugs, including a memory safety vulnerability in the OpenSSH server (sshd). Tracked as CVE-2023-25136, the shortcoming has been classified as a pre-authentication double free vulnerability that was introduced in version 9.1. "This is not believed to be exploitable, and it occurs in the unprivileged pre-auth

OpenSSH fixes double-free memory bug that’s pokable over the network

It's a bug fix for a bug fix. A memory leak was turned into a double-free that has now been turned into correct code...

New IoT RapperBot Malware Targeting Linux Servers via SSH Brute-Forcing Attack

A new IoT botnet malware dubbed RapperBot has been observed rapidly evolving its capabilities since it was first discovered in mid-June 2022. "This family borrows heavily from the original Mirai source code, but what separates it from other IoT malware families is its built-in capability to brute force credentials and gain access to SSH servers instead of Telnet as implemented in Mirai,"

New Linux Malware Framework Lets Attackers Install Rootkit on Targeted Systems

A never-before-seen Linux malware has been dubbed a "Swiss Army Knife" for its modular architecture and its capability to install rootkits. This previously undetected Linux threat, called Lightning Framework by Intezer, is equipped with a plethora of features, making it one of the most intricate frameworks developed for targeting Linux systems. "The framework has both passive and active

OpenSSH goes Post-Quantum, switches to qubit-busting crypto by default

Useful quantum computers might not actually be possible. But what if they are? And what if they arrive, say, tomorrow?

OpenSSH Now Defaults To Protecting Against Quantum Computer Attacks