The North Korea-backed superior persistent menace generally known as APT37 exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft’s Web Explorer Internet browser over the summer season, utilizing it to mount a zero-click provide chain marketing campaign on South Korean targets, researchers revealed.
Whereas IE reached finish of life in 2022 and plenty of organizations do not use it anymore, there are many legacy purposes that do. On this case, APT37 (aka RedAnt, RedEyes, ScarCruft, and Group123) particularly focused a Toast advert program that’s often put in alongside numerous free software program, in keeping with AhnLab SEcurity intelligence Middle (ASEC). “Toasts” are pop-up notifications that seem on the right-bottom of a PC display.
“Many Toast advert applications use a function known as WebView to render Internet content material for displaying advertisements,” in keeping with AhnLab researchers. “Nonetheless, WebView operates based mostly on a browser. Due to this fact, if this system creator used IE-based WebView to put in writing the code, IE vulnerabilities is also exploited in this system.”
A Sizzling-Buttered Zero-Click on Toast Exploit
In response to AhnLab’s evaluation launched final week, the state-sponsored cyberattack group compromised an advert company, after which used the bug, tracked as CVE-2024-38178 (CVSS 7.5), to inject malicious code into the Toast script the company makes use of to obtain advert content material to folks’s desktops. As an alternative of advertisements, the script started delivering malware.
“This vulnerability is exploited when the advert program downloads and renders the advert content material,” the researchers defined of their report on the assault, which they known as “Code on Toast.” “Because of this, a zero-click assault occurred with none interplay from the person.”
The malware delivered is the RokRAT, which APT37 has persistently used up to now.
“After infecting the system, numerous malicious behaviors might be carried out, corresponding to distant instructions,” the researchers famous, including, “On this assault, the group additionally makes use of Ruby to safe malicious exercise persistence and performs command management by a business cloud server.”
The marketing campaign had the potential to trigger important harm, they mentioned, however the assault was detected early. “As well as, safety measures have been additionally taken in opposition to different Toast promoting applications that have been confirmed to have the potential for exploitation earlier than the vulnerability patch model was launched,” in keeping with AhnLab.
IE Lurks in Apps, Stays a Cyber Menace
Microsoft patched the bug in its August Patch Tuesday replace slate, however the continued use of IE as a built-in part or associated module inside different purposes stays a regarding assault vector, and an incentive for hackers to proceed to amass IE zero-day vulnerabilities.
“Such assaults are usually not solely troublesome to defend in opposition to with customers’ consideration or antivirus, however may also have a big impression relying on the exploited software program,” AhnLab researchers defined within the report (PDF, Korean).
They added, “Not too long ago, the technological stage of North Korean hacking teams is turning into extra superior, and assaults that exploit numerous vulnerabilities aside from IE are progressively growing.”
Accordingly, customers ought to be sure to maintain working programs and software program updated, however “software program producers must also watch out to not use growth libraries and modules which might be weak to safety when creating merchandise,” they concluded.
Translation supplied by Google Translate.
