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One Year Later, Hackers Still Target Apache Struts Flaw
2018-03-26 15:27

One year after researchers saw the first attempts to exploit a critical remote code execution flaw affecting the Apache Struts 2 framework, hackers continue to scan the Web for vulnerable servers. The vulnerability in question, tracked as CVE-2017-5638, affects Struts 2.3.5 through 2.3.31 and Struts 2.5 through 2.5.10. The security hole was addressed on March 6, 2017 with the release of versions 2.3.32 and 2.5.10.1. The bug, caused due to improper handling of the Content-Type header, can be triggered when performing file uploads with the Jakarta Multipart parser, and it allows a remote and unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary OS commands on the targeted system. The first exploitation attempts were spotted one day after the patch was released, shortly after someone made available a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit. Some of the attacks scanned servers in search of vulnerable Struts installations, while others were set up to deliver malware. Guy Bruneau, researcher and handler at the SANS Internet Storm Center, reported over the weekend that his honeypot had caught a significant number of attempts to exploit CVE-2017-5638 over the past two weeks. The expert said his honeypot recorded 57 exploitation attempts on Sunday, on ports 80, 8080 and 443. The attacks, which appear to rely on a publicly available PoC exploit, involved one of two requests designed to check if a system is vulnerable. Bruneau told SecurityWeek that he has yet to see any payloads. The researcher noticed scans a few times a week starting on March 13, coming from IP addresses in Asia. “The actors are either looking for unpatched servers or new installations that have not been secured properly,” Bruneau said. The CVE-2017-5638 vulnerability is significant as it was exploited by cybercriminals last year to hack into the systems of U.S. credit reporting agency Equifax. Attackers had access to Equifax systems for more than two months and they managed to obtain information on over 145 million of the company’s customers. The same vulnerability was also leveraged late last year in a campaign that involved NSA-linked exploits and cryptocurrency miners. This is not the only Apache Struts 2 vulnerability exploited by malicious actors since last year. In September, security firms warned that a remote code execution flaw tracked as CVE-2017-9805 had been exploited to deliver malware. Related: Actively Exploited Struts Flaw Affects Cisco Products Related: Oracle Releases Patches for Exploited Apache Struts Flaw (function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); Tweet Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.Previous Columns by Eduard Kovacs:One Year Later, Hackers Still Target Apache Struts FlawEnergy Sector Most Impacted by ICS Flaws, Attacks: StudyIETF Approves TLS 1.3GitHub Security Alerts Lead to Fewer Vulnerable Code LibrariesMore Chrome OS Devices Receive Meltdown, Spectre Patches 2018 ICS Cyber Security Conference | USA [Oct. 22-25] 2018 ICS Cyber Security Conference | Singapore [April. 24-26] Register for the 2018 CISO Forum at Half Moon Bay sponsored links Tags: NEWS & INDUSTRY Virus & Threats Malware Vulnerabilities Cybercrime


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Related Vulnerability

DATE CVE VULNERABILITY TITLE RISK
2017-09-15 CVE-2017-9805 Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in multiple products
The REST Plugin in Apache Struts 2.1.1 through 2.3.x before 2.3.34 and 2.5.x before 2.5.13 uses an XStreamHandler with an instance of XStream for deserialization without any type filtering, which can lead to Remote Code Execution when deserializing XML payloads.
network
high complexity
apache cisco netapp CWE-502
8.1
2017-03-11 CVE-2017-5638 Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in multiple products
The Jakarta Multipart parser in Apache Struts 2 2.3.x before 2.3.32 and 2.5.x before 2.5.10.1 has incorrect exception handling and error-message generation during file-upload attempts, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted Content-Type, Content-Disposition, or Content-Length HTTP header, as exploited in the wild in March 2017 with a Content-Type header containing a #cmd= string.
network
low complexity
apache ibm lenovo hp oracle arubanetworks netapp CWE-755
critical
9.8

Related vendor

VENDOR LAST 12M #/PRODUCTS LOW MEDIUM HIGH CRITICAL TOTAL VULNS
Apache 281 13 544 711 366 1634