{"id":7518,"date":"2021-07-14T20:02:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T03:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webdev.securin.xyz\/?p=7518"},"modified":"2023-04-05T12:39:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:39:00","slug":"new-threat-group-agrius-exploits-old-fortinet-vpn-vulnerabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webdev.securin.xyz\/articles\/new-threat-group-agrius-exploits-old-fortinet-vpn-vulnerabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"New Threat Group Agrius Exploits Old Fortinet VPN Vulnerabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n{Updated September 2021}:<\/strong> On September 8, 2021, a new Russian-speaking threat actor was identified actively exploiting the Fortinet VPN vulnerability, CVE-2018-13379. The threat actor called Orange<\/a> is the administrator of the new RAMP hacking forum and was previously the operator of the Babuk Ransomware operation. They stole data from unpatched servers and put them up on a Groove Ransomware site. The perpetrator\u2019s breach list<\/a> reportedly contains the login credentials to multiple top organizations in 74 countries, including India, France, Israel, Italy, Taiwan, and the USA.<\/p>\n
CVE-2018-13379 has been one of the most widely exploited vulnerabilities of 2020 and was called out by CSW researchers in the Ransomware Q2 report 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n
We urge our readers and clients to patch their Fortinet VPN servers without further delay to stave off a major ransomware attack.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
{Updated on August 18, 2021}: <\/strong>On 17 August 2021, researchers intimated Fortinet after discovering a zero-day command injection vulnerability, a variant of CVE-2021-22123<\/a>, in the FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF).<\/p>\n
This high severity vulnerability, which still does not have a CVE number, is likely to be classified under the weakness enumeration CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (\u2018OS Command Injection\u2019) with a CVSS v3 score of 8.8. The zero-day flaw allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on an underlying system via a SAML server configuration page.<\/p>\n
The vulnerability can also be chained with another authentication bypass flaw, CVE-2020-29015<\/a>, giving an attacker full control of all vulnerable servers.<\/p>\n
The zero-day vulnerability impacts FortiWeb versions 6.3.11 and prior. A patch for the vulnerability is expected to be released with the version 6.4.1 upgrade coming up at the end August.<\/p>\n
We urge organizations to keep themselves up-to-date about the latest patches and security upgrades to avoid any untoward events.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nIn a latest update on 19 July 2021, Fortinet released an advisory<\/a>\u00a0to all its clients, sharing patch details and workarounds for a Use-After-Free vulnerability, classified under CWE-416, in FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer. Our research analyzed the vulnerability may lead to remote code execution after unauthorized access to root. Our analysis of the vulnerability is detailed below.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Three Virtual Private Network (VPN) vulnerabilities in FortiOS that have existed for over a year now have recently been exploited in an attack against a local US municipal government<\/a>. The newly discovered threat group, Agrius, has been observed using a\u00a0relatively new ransomware called Apostle to exploit these vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
CSW warned of the Fortinet VPN vulnerabilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The possibility of a VPN vulnerability being exploited was called out by CyberSecurityWorks one year ago in a report<\/a> published in July 2020, enumerating three possible vulnerabilities, which were already weaponized.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
Further, in an article published in December 2020, titled \u2018Fortinet\u2019s 50,000 VPN Leak Highlights Lack of Cyber Hygiene<\/a>\u2019, our analysis pointed out a critical vulnerability, CVE-2018-13379, in the restricted directory titled \u2018Path Traversal\u2019 in Fortinet VPN versions 5.4.6 to 6.0.4, putting close to 50,000 IP addresses at risk.<\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
Fortinet Vulnerabilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n
FortiManager & FortiAnalyzer:<\/strong><\/p>\n
CVE-2021-32589<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2021-32589<\/a> is a severe vulnerability with a CVSS v3 score of 7.5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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The CVE is categorized under CWE-416 (Use After Free) which is also listed in the 2021 CWE Top 10 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses by MITRE.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A CISA advisory<\/a> was also issued, urging organizations to patch this vulnerability on priority.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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The vulnerability affects FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer versions 5.6.10, 6.0.10, 6.2.7, 6.4.5, 7.0.0 and 5.4.x and below.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Fortinet urges their customers to upgrade their versions of FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer as well as upgrade their FortiGate IPS definitions to v18.001 or above.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
In the US municipal network attack, the threat actors accessed a web server hosting via a Fortigate vulnerability and created a username on a local network to allow for persistence attacks. Our research analyzed the vulnerabilities in Fortinet that could be potentially exploited to mount an attack. Here is our analysis of the vulnerabilities\u2014<\/p>\n
FortiGate SSL VPN:<\/strong><\/p>\n
CVE-2018-13379<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2018-13379<\/a> is a pre-authorization arbitrary file reading vulnerability, according to the alert issued by the NSA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Classified under the weakness enumeration CWE-22 (improper limitation in the path name to a restricted \u2018Path Traversal\u2019 directory), this critical vulnerability has a severity rating of 9.8 on the CVSS v3 score.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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This CVE has been exploited by 7 Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups and has a Remote Code Execution (RCE) capability.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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It allows an attacker on the same network to send malicious service location protocol (SLP) requests to take control of it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Our research indicates that this vulnerability is trending in hacker channels and the dark web.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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This CVE has also been associated with several ransomware attacks in the past, namely, Apostle (November 2020)<\/a>, Cring (January 2021)<\/a>, Pay2Key (2020)<\/a> and Conti (December 2019)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
CVE-2020-12812<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2020-12812<\/a>, leads to an improper authentication exploit (CWE-287) in the FortiOS system.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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The FBI and CISA<\/a> have issued alerts urging organizations to patch this vulnerability on priority.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Classified under CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), this critical vulnerability has a severity rating of 9.8 in CVSS v3 score.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
CVE-2019-5591<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2019-5591<\/a> is a medium severity vulnerability with a score of 6.5 from CVSS v3.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Categorized under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) the medium severity rating of this vulnerability allows it to fly past the radar of security teams.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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This vulnerability is trending in the wild, therefore organizations need to patch it immediately.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Two high-severity vulnerabilities known to have remote access capabilities were also identified in the FortiWeb Firewall.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
FortiWeb Firewall:<\/strong><\/p>\n
CVE-2021-22123<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2021-22123<\/a> is a high severity vulnerability with a CvSS v3 score of 8.8.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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The CVE is categorized under CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), which is also listed in the 2020 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses by MITRE.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
CVE-2020-29015\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
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CVE-2020-29015<\/a> is a critical severity vulnerability with a CvSS v3 score of 9.8.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Categorized under CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (‘SQL Injection’)), the critical vulnerability is also part of the 2020 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses by MITRE.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
\nIt is noted that the CVE-2021-22123 can have a more serious impact if chained with a misconfiguration and a separate vulnerability, CVE-2020-29015. When these two vulnerabilities are combined, threat actors can gain complete remote access to the internal network, bypassing the FortiWeb Firewall.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
New APT group Agrius exploiting CVE-2018-13379<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
On 28 May 2021, a new Iranian APT hacking group, Agrius, exploited an unpatched vulnerability<\/a> in the Fortinet VPN. Our research shows that Agrius group is targeting multiple sectors\u2014<\/b>Technology\/IT, Banking\/Financial\/Wealth Management, Outsourcing & Hosting, Transportation & Shipping, Energy\/Oil & Gas, Process Manufacturing, Discrete Manufacturing, and Industrial Insurance. Our recommendation to organizations would be to patch all these vulnerabilities on priority.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n