Original release date: September 22, 2020

Summary

This Alert uses the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK®) framework. See the ATT&CK for Enterprise frameworks for all referenced threat actor techniques.

This product was written by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) with contributions by the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

CISA has observed a notable increase in the use of LokiBot malware by malicious cyber actors since July 2020. Throughout this period, CISA’s EINSTEIN Intrusion Detection System, which protects federal, civilian executive branch networks, has detected persistent malicious LokiBot activity. LokiBot uses a credential- and information-stealing malware, often sent as a malicious attachment and known for being simple, yet effective, making it an attractive tool for a broad range of cyber actors across a wide variety of data compromise use cases.

Technical Details

LokiBot—also known as Lokibot, Loki PWS, and Loki-bot—employs Trojan malware to steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, cryptocurrency wallets, and other credentials.

• The malware steals credentials through the use of a keylogger to monitor browser and desktop activity (Credentials from Password Stores [T1555]).
  • (Credentials from Password Stores: Credentials from Web Browsers [T1555.003])
  • (Input Capture: Keylogging [T1056.001])
• LokiBot can also create a backdoor into infected systems to allow an attacker to install additional payloads (Event Triggered Execution: Accessibility Features [T1546.008]).
• Malicious cyber actors typically use LokiBot to target Windows and Android operating systems and distribute the malware via email, malicious websites, text, and other private messages (User Execution: Malicious File [T1204.002]). See figure 1 for enterprise techniques used by LokiBot.

​

Figure 1: MITRE ATT&CK enterprise techniques used by LokiBot

Since LokiBot was first reported in 2015, cyber actors have used it across a range of targeted applications, including the following.

• February 2020: Trend Micro identified cyber actors using LokiBot to impersonate a launcher for Fortnite—a popular video game.[1]
• August 2019: FortiGuard SE researchers discovered a malspam campaign distributing LokiBot information-stealing payloads in spearphishing attack on a U.S. manufacturing company.[2]
• August 2019: Trend Micro researchers reported LokiBot malware source code being hidden in image files spread as attachments in phishing emails.[3]
• June 2019: Netskope uncovered LokiBot being distributed in a malspam campaign using ISO image file attachments.[4]
• April 2019: Netskope uncovered a phishing campaign using malicious email attachments with LokiBot malware to create backdoors onto infected Windows systems and steal sensitive information.[5]
• February 2018: Trend Micro discovered CVE-2017-11882 being exploited in an attack using Windows Installer service to deliver LokiBot malware.[6]
• October 2017: SfyLabs identified cyber actors using LokiBot as an Android banking trojan that turns into ransomware.[7]
• May 2017: Fortinet reported malicious actors using a PDF file to spread a new LokiBot variant capable of stealing credentials from more than 100 different software tools.[8]
• March 2017: Check Point discovered LokiBot malware found pre-installed on Android devices.[9]
• December 2016: Dr.Web researchers identified a new LokiBot variant targeting Android core libraries.[10]
• February 2016: Researchers discovered the LokiBot Android Trojan infecting the core Android operating system processes.[11]

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

According to MITRE, LokiBot uses the ATT&CK techniques listed in table 1.

Table 1: LokiBot ATT&CK techniques

Detection

Signatures

CISA developed the following Snort signature for use in detecting network activity associated with LokiBot activity.

Mitigations

CISA and MS-ISAC recommend that federal, state, local, tribal, territorial government, private sector users, and network administrators consider applying the following best practices to strengthen the security posture of their organization’s systems. System owners and administrators should review any configuration changes prior to implementation to avoid unwanted impacts.

• Maintain up-to-date antivirus signatures and engines. See Protecting Against Malicious Code.
• Keep operating system patches up to date. See Understanding Patches and Software Updates.
• Disable file and printer sharing services. If these services are required, use strong passwords or Active Directory authentication.
• Enforce multi-factor authentication. See Supplementing Passwords for more information.
• Restrict users’ ability (permissions) to install and run unwanted software applications. Do not add users to the local administrators’ group unless required.
• Enforce a strong password policy. See Choosing and Protecting Passwords.
• Exercise caution when opening email attachments, even if the attachment is expected and the sender appears to be known. See Using Caution with Email Attachments.
• Enable a personal firewall on agency workstations, configured to deny unsolicited connection requests.
• Disable unnecessary services on agency workstations and servers.
• Scan for and remove suspicious email attachments; ensure the scanned attachment is its “true file type” (i.e., the extension matches the file header).
• Monitor users’ web browsing habits; restrict access to sites with unfavorable content.
• Exercise caution when using removable media (e.g., USB thumb drives, external drives, CDs).
• Scan all software downloaded from the internet prior to executing.
• Maintain situational awareness of the latest threats and implement appropriate access control lists.
• Visit the MITRE ATT&CK Techniques pages (linked in table 1 above) for additional mitigation and detection strategies.

For additional information on malware incident prevention and handling, see the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-83, Guide to Malware Incident Prevention and Handling for Desktops and Laptops.

Resources

Center for Internet Security Security Event Primer – Malware: https://www.cisecurity.org/white-papers/security-event-primer-malware/
MITRE ATT&CK – LokiBot: https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0447/
MITRE ATT&CK for Enterprise: https://attack.mitre.org/matrices/enterprise/

References

• [1] Trend Micro: LokiBot Impersonates Popular Game Launcher and Drops Compiled C# Code File
• [2] Fortinet: Newly Discovered Infostealer Attack Uses LokiBot
• [3] ZDNet: LokiBot Malware Now Hides its Source Code in Image Files
• [4] SecurityWeek: LokiBot and NanoCore Malware Distributed in ISO Image Files
• [5] Netskope: LokiBot & NanoCore being distributed via ISO disk image files
• [6] Trend Micro: Attack Using Windows Installer Leads to LokiBot
• [7] BleepingComputer: LokiBot Android Banking Trojan Turns Into Ransomware When You Try to Remove It
• [8] Fortinet: New Loki Variant Being Spread via PDF File
• [9] Check Point: Preinstalled Malware Targeting Mobile Users
• [10] BleepingComputer: Loki Trojan Infects Android Libraries and System Process to Get Root Privileges
• [11] New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell: LokiBot 

Revisions

• September 22, 2020: Initial Version

Original release date: September 15, 2020

Summary

This Alert uses the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK®) framework. See the ATT&CK for Enterprise framework for all referenced threat actor techniques.

This product was written by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) with contributions from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). CISA and FBI are aware of an Iran-based malicious cyber actor targeting several U.S. federal agencies and other U.S.-based networks. Analysis of the threat actor’s indicators of compromise (IOCs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) indicates a correlation with the group known by the names, Pioneer Kitten and UNC757. This threat actor has been observed exploiting several publicly known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) dealing with Pulse Secure virtual private network (VPN), Citrix NetScaler, and F5 vulnerabilities. This threat actor used these vulnerabilities to gain initial access to targeted networks and then maintained access within the successfully exploited networks for several months using multiple means of persistence.

This Advisory provides the threat actor’s TTPs, IOCs, and exploited CVEs to help administrators and network defenders identify a potential compromise of their network and protect their organization from future attacks.

Click here for a PDF version of this report.

Technical Details

CISA and FBI are aware of a widespread campaign from an Iran-based malicious cyber actor targeting several industries mainly associated with information technology, government, healthcare, financial, insurance, and media sectors across the United States. The threat actor conducts mass-scanning and uses tools, such as Nmap, to identify open ports. Once the open ports are identified, the threat actor exploits CVEs related to VPN infrastructure to gain initial access to a targeted network. CISA and the FBI have observed the threat actor exploiting multiple CVEs, including CVE-2019-11510, CVE-2019-11539, CVE-2019-19781, and CVE-2020-5902.

After gaining initial access to a targeted network, the threat actor obtains administrator-level credentials and installs web shells allowing further entrenchment. After establishing a foothold, the threat actor’s goals appear to be maintaining persistence and exfiltrating data. This threat actor has been observed selling access to compromised network infrastructure in an online hacker forum. Industry reporting indicates that the threat actor operates as a contractor supporting Iranian government interests, but the malicious activity appears to also serve the threat actor’s own financial interests. The FBI notes this threat actor has the capability, and likely the intent, to deploy ransomware on victim networks.

CISA and FBI have observed this Iran-based threat actor relying on exploits of remote external services on internet-facing assets to gain initial access to victim networks. The threat actor also relies heavily on open-source and operating system (OS) tooling to conduct operations, such as ngrok; fast reverse proxy (FRP); Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory browser; as well as web shells known as ChunkyTuna, Tiny, and China Chopper.

Table 1 illustrates some of the common tools this threat actor has used.

Table 1: Common exploit tools

Notable means of detecting this threat actor:

• CISA and the FBI note that this group makes significant use of ngrok, which may appear as TCP port 443 connections to external cloud-based infrastructure.
• The threat actor uses FRPC over port 7557.
• Malware Analysis Report MAR-10297887-1.v1 details some of the tools this threat actor used against some victims.

The following file paths can be used to detect Tiny web shell, ChunkyTuna web shell, or Chisel if a network has been compromised by this attacker exploiting CVE-2019-19781.

• Tiny web shell

       /netscaler/ns_gui/admin_ui/rdx/core/css/images/css.php
       /netscaler/ns_gui/vpn/images/vpn_ns_gui.php
       /var/vpn/themes/imgs/tiny.php

• ChunkyTuna web shell

       /var/vpn/themes/imgs/debug.php
       /var/vpn/themes/imgs/include.php
       /var/vpn/themes/imgs/whatfile

• Chisel

       /var/nstmp/chisel

MITRE ATT&CK Framework

Initial Access

As indicated in table 2, the threat actor primarily gained initial access by using the publicly available exploit for CVE-2019-19781. From there, the threat actor used the Citrix environment to establish a presence on an internal network server.

Table 2: Initial access techniques

Execution

After gaining initial access, the threat actor began executing scripts, as shown in table 3.

Table 3: Execution techniques

Persistence

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 4 to establish persistence.

Table 4: Persistence techniques

Privilege Escalation

CISA observed no evidence of direct privilege escalation. The threat actor attained domain administrator credentials on the NetScaler device via exploit and continued to expand credential access on the network.

Defense Evasion

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 5 to evade detection.

Table 5: Defensive evasion techniques

Credential Access

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 6 to further their credential access.

Table 6: Credential access techniques

Discovery

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 7 to learn more about the victim environments.

Table 7: Discovery techniques

Lateral Movement

CISA also observed the threat actor using open-source tools such as Plink and TightVNC for lateral movement. CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 8 for lateral movement within the victim environment.

Table 8: Lateral movement techniques

Collection

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 9 for collection within the victim environment.

Table 9: Collection techniques

Command and Control

CISA observed the threat actor using the techniques identified in table 10 for command and control (C2).

Table 10: Command and control techniques

Exfiltration

CISA currently has no evidence of data exfiltration from this threat actor but assesses that it was likely due to the use of 7-Zip and viewing of sensitive documents.

Mitigations

Recommendations

CISA and FBI recommend implementing the following recommendations.

• If your organization has not patched for the Citrix CVE-2019-19781 vulnerability, and a compromise is suspected, follow the recommendations in CISA Alert AA20-031A.
• This threat actor has been observed targeting other CVEs mentioned in this report; follow the recommendations in the CISA resources provided below.
• If using Windows Active Directory and compromise is suspected, conduct remediation of the compromised Windows Active Directory forest.
  • If compromised, rebuild/reimage compromised NetScaler devices.
• Routinely audit configuration and patch management programs.
• Monitor network traffic for unexpected and unapproved protocols, especially outbound to the internet (e.g., SSH, SMB, RDP).
• Implement multi-factor authentication, especially for privileged accounts.
• Use separate administrative accounts on separate administration workstations.
• Implement the principle of least privilege on data access.
• Secure RDP and other remote access solutions using multifactor authentication and “jump boxes” for access.
• Deploy endpoint defense tools on all endpoints; ensure they work and are up to date.
• Keep software up to date.

Contact Information

To report suspicious or criminal activity related to information found in this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, contact your local FBI field office at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field, or the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch (CyWatch) at (855) 292-3937 or by e-mail at CyWatch@fbi.gov. When available, please include the following information regarding the incident: date, time, and location of the incident; type of activity; number of people affected; type of equipment used for the activity; the name of the submitting company or organization; and a designated point of contact. To request incident response resources or technical assistance related to these threats, contact CISA at central@cisa.dhs.gov.

Resources

CISA Alert AA20-031A: Detecting Citrix CVE-2019-19781
CISA Alert AA20-073A: Enterprise VPN Security
CISA Alert AA20-107A: Continued Threat Actor Exploitation Post Pulse Secure VPN Patching
CISA Alert AA20-206A: Threat Actor Exploitation of F5 BIG-IP CVE-2020-5902
CISA Security Tip: Securing Network Infrastructure Devices

Revisions

• September 15, 2020: Initial Version

Original release date: September 14, 2020

Summary

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has consistently observed Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS)-affiliated cyber threat actors using publicly available information sources and common, well-known tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to target U.S. Government agencies. CISA has observed these—and other threat actors with varying degrees of skill—routinely using open-source information to plan and execute cyber operations. CISA leveraged the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK®) and Pre-ATT&CK frameworks to characterize the TTPs used by Chinese MSS-affiliated actors. This product was written by CISA with contributions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Key Takeaways

• Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors use open-source information to plan and conduct cyber operations.
• Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors use readily available exploits and exploit toolkits to quickly engage target networks.
• Maintaining a rigorous patching cycle continues to be the best defense against the most frequently used attacks.
• If critical vulnerabilities remain unpatched, cyber threat actors can carry out attacks without the need to develop custom malware and exploits or use previously unknown vulnerabilities to target a network.
• This Advisory identifies some of the more common—yet most effective—TTPs employed by cyber threat actors, including Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors.

Click here for a PDF version of this report.

Technical Details

Through the operation of the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS) and by fulfilling its mission as the national risk advisor, CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors operating from the People’s Republic of China using commercially available information sources and open-source exploitation tools to target U.S. Government agency networks.

According to a recent U.S. Department of Justice indictment, MSS-affiliated actors have targeted various industries across the United States and other countries—including high-tech manufacturing; medical device, civil, and industrial engineering; business, educational, and gaming software; solar energy; pharmaceuticals; and defense—in a campaign that lasted over ten years.[1] These hackers acted for both their own personal gain and the benefit of the Chinese MSS.[2]

According to the indictment,

To conceal the theft of information from victim networks and otherwise evade detection, the defendants typically packaged victim data in encrypted Roshal Archive Compressed files (RAR files), changed RAR file and victim documents’ names and extensions (e.g., from “.rar” to “.jpg”) and system timestamps, and concealed programs and documents at innocuous-seeming locations on victim networks and in victim networks’ “recycle bins.” The defendants frequently returned to re-victimize companies, government entities, and organizations from which they had previously stolen data, in some cases years after the initial successful data theft. In several instances, however, the defendants were unsuccessful in this regard, due to the efforts of the FBI and network defenders.

The continued use of open-source tools by Chinese MSS-affiliated cyber threat actors highlights that adversaries can use relatively low-complexity capabilities to identify and exploit target networks. In most cases, cyber operations are successful because misconfigurations and immature patch management programs allow actors to plan and execute attacks using existing vulnerabilities and known exploits. Widespread implementation of robust configuration and patch management programs would greatly increase network security. It would also reduce the speed and frequency of opportunistic attacks by forcing threat actors to dedicate time and funding to research unknown vulnerabilities and develop custom exploitation tools.

MITRE PRE-ATT&CK® Framework for Analysis

In the last 12 months, CISA analysts have routinely observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the following PRE-ATT&CK® Framework TTPs.

Target Selection and Technical Information Gathering

Target Selection [TA0014] is a critical part of cyber operations. While cyber threat actors’ motivations and intents are often unknown, they often make their selections based on the target network’s security posture. Threat actors can use information sources such as Shodan, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) database, and the National Vulnerabilities Database (NVD).[3][4][5]

• Shodan is an internet search engine that can be used to identify vulnerable devices connected to the internet. Shodan queries can also be customized to discover specific vulnerabilities on devices, which enables sophisticated cyber threat actors to use relatively unsophisticated techniques to execute opportunistic attacks on susceptible targets.
• The CVE database and the NVD contain detailed information about vulnerabilities in applications, appliances, and operating systems that can be exploited by cyber threat actors if they remain unpatched. These sources also provide risk assessments if any of the recorded vulnerabilities are successfully exploited.

These information sources have legitimate uses for network defense. CISA analysts are able to identify Federal Government systems that may be susceptible to exploitation attempts by using Shodan, the CVE database, and the NVD to enrich NCPS information. Unlike threat actors, CISA takes the necessary actions to notify network owners of their exposure in order to prevent an impending intrusion or quickly identify intrusions as they occur.

While using these data sources, CISA analysts have observed a correlation between the public release of a vulnerability and targeted scanning of systems identified as being vulnerable. This correlation suggests that cyber threat actors also rely on Shodan, the CVE database, the NVD, and other open-source information to identify targets of opportunity and plan cyber operations. Together, these data sources provide users with the understanding of a specific vulnerability, as well as a list of systems that may be vulnerable to attempted exploits. These information sources therefore contain invaluable information that can lead cyber threat actors to implement highly effective attacks.

CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the techniques in table 1 to gather technical information to enable cyber operations against Federal Government networks (Technical Information Gathering [TA0015]).

Table 1: Technical information gathering techniques observed by CISA

Technical Weakness Identification

CISA analysts consistently observe targeting, scanning, and probing of significant vulnerabilities within days of their emergence and disclosure. This targeting, scanning, and probing frequently leads to compromises at the hands of sophisticated cyber threat actors. In some cases, cyber threat actors have used the same vulnerabilities to compromise multiple organizations across many sectors. Organizations do not appear to be mitigating known vulnerabilities as quickly as cyber threat actors are exploiting them. CISA recently released an alert that highlighted the top 10 vulnerabilities routinely exploited by sophisticated foreign cyber threat actors from 2016 to 2019.[6]

Additionally, table 2 provides a list of notable compromises by Chinese MSS-affiliated actors within the past 12 months.

Table 2: Significant CVEs targeted by Chinese MSS-affiliated actors in the last 12 months

Additionally, CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the techniques listed in table 3 to identify technical weaknesses in Federal Government networks (Technical Weakness Identification [TA0018]). 

Table 3: Technical weakness identification techniques observed by CISA

Build Capabilities 

CISA analysts have observed cyber threat actors using command and control (C2) infrastructure as part of their cyber operations. These observations also provide evidence that threat actors can build and maintain relatively low-complexity capabilities, such as C2, to enable cyber operations against Federal Government networks (Build Capabilities [TA0024]). CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the build capabilities summarized in table 4.

Table 4: Build capabilities observed by CISA

MITRE ATT&CK Framework for Analysis

CISA has observed sophisticated cyber threat actors, including Chinese MSS-affiliated actors, using commercial and open-source tools to conduct their operations. For example, threat actors often leverage internet software repositories such as GitHub and Exploit-DB.[10][11] Both repositories are commonly used for legitimate development and penetration testing and developing open-source code, but cyber threat actors can also use them to find code to enable nefarious actions.

During incident response activities, CISA frequently observed Chinese government-affiliated actors using the open-source tools outlined in table 5.

Table 5: Common exploit tools CISA observed used by Chinese MSS-affiliated actors

The following sections list the ATT&CK Framework TTPs routinely employed by Chinese government-affiliated actors to conduct cyber operations as observed by CISA analysts.

Initial Access 

In the last 12 months, CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors use spearphishing emails with embedded links to actor-owned infrastructure and, in some cases, compromise or poison legitimate sites to enable cyber operations.

CISA has observed the threat actors using the Initial Access [TA0001] techniques identified in table 6.

Table 6: Initial access techniques observed by CISA

Cyber threat actors can continue to successfully launch these types of low-complexity attacks—as long as misconfigurations in operational environments and immature patch management programs remain in place—by taking advantage of common vulnerabilities and using readily available exploits and information.

Execution 

CISA analysts continue to observe beaconing activity indicative of compromise or ongoing access to Federal Government networks. This beaconing is a result of cyber threat actors successfully completing cyber operations that are often designed around emergent vulnerabilities and reliant on existing exploitation tools, as mentioned in this document.

CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the Execution [TA0002] technique identified in table 7.

Table 7: Execution technique observed by CISA

Credential Access 

Cyber threat actors also continue to identify large repositories of credentials that are available on the internet to enable brute-force attacks. While this sort of activity is not a direct result of the exploitation of emergent vulnerabilities, it demonstrates that cyber threat actors can effectively use available open-source information to accomplish their goals. Further, a threat actor does not require a high degree of competence or sophistication to successfully carry out this kind of opportunistic attack.

CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the Credential Access [TA0006] techniques highlighted in table 8.

Table 8: Credential access techniques observed by CISA

Discovery 

As with any cyber operation, cyber threat actors must be able to confirm that their target is online and vulnerable—there are a multitude of open-source scanning and reconnaissance tools available to them to use for this purpose. CISA consistently observes scanning activity across federal agencies that is indicative of discovery techniques. CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors scanning Federal Government traffic using the discovery technique highlighted in table 9 (Discovery [TA0007]).

Table 9: Discovery technique observed by CISA

Collection 

Within weeks of public disclosure of CVE-2020-0688, CISA analysts identified traffic that was indicative of Chinese MSS-affiliated threat actors attempting to exploit this vulnerability using the Collection [TA0009] technique listed in table 10.

Table 10: Collection technique observed by CISA

Command and Control 

CISA analysts often observe cyber threat actors using external proxy tools or hop points to enable their cyber operations while remaining anonymous. These proxy tools may be commercially available infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or software as a service (SaaS) in the form of a web browser promising anonymity on the internet. For example, “The Onion Router” (Tor) is often used by cyber threat actors for anonymity and C2. Actor’s carefully choose proxy tools depending on their intended use. These techniques are relatively low in complexity and enabled by commercially available tools, yet they are highly effective and often reliant upon existing vulnerabilities and readily available exploits.

CISA has observed Chinese MSS-affiliated actors using the Command and Control [TA0011] techniques listed in table 11.

Table 11: Command and control techniques observed by CISA

Mitigations

CISA asserts with high confidence that sophisticated cyber threat actors will continue to use open-source resources and tools to target networks with a low security posture. When sophisticated cyber threat actors conduct operations against soft targets, it can negatively impact critical infrastructure, federal, and state, local, tribal, territorial government networks, possibly resulting in loss of critical data or personally identifiable information.

CISA and the FBI recommend that organizations place an increased priority on patching the vulnerabilities routinely exploited by MSS-affiliated cyber actors. See table 12 for patch information on the CVEs mentioned in this report. For more information on vulnerabilities routinely exploited by sophisticated cyber actors, see CISA Alert: Top 10 Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities.

Table 12: Patch Information for Vulnerabilities Routinely Exploited by MSS-affiliated Cyber Actors

CISA and the FBI also recommend that organizations routinely audit their configuration and patch management programs to ensure they can track and mitigate emerging threats. Implementing a rigorous configuration and patch management program will hamper sophisticated cyber threat actors’ operations and protect organizations’ resources and information systems. 

Contact Information

To report suspicious or criminal activity related to information found in this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, contact your local FBI field office at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field, or the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch (CyWatch) at (855) 292-3937 or by e-mail at CyWatch@fbi.gov. When available, please include the following information regarding the incident: date, time, and location of the incident; type of activity; number of people affected; type of equipment used for the activity; the name of the submitting company or organization; and a designated point of contact. To request incident response resources or technical assistance related to these threats, contact CISA at central@cisa.dhs.gov.

References

• [1] U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
• [2] U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
• [3] Shodan
• [4] MITRE Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures List
• [5] National Institute of Standards and Technology National Vulnerability Database
• [6] CISA Alert AA20-133A: Top 10 Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities
• [7] CISA Alert AA20-206A: Threat Actor Exploitation of F5 BIG-IP CVE-2020-5902
• [8] CISA Alert AA20-031A: Detecting Citrix CVE-2019-19781
• [9] CISA Alert AA20-107A: Continued Threat Actor Exploitation Post Pulse Secure VPN Patching
• [10] GitHub
• [11] Exploit-DB
• [12] What is Mimikatz: The Beginner’s Guide (VARONIS)

Revisions

• September 14, 2020: Initial Version