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    25May, 2023
    Mirai Variant V3G4 Targets 13 Vulnerabilities to Infect IoT Devices

    During the second half of 2022, a variant of the Mirai malware called V3G4 was seen targeting 13 vulnerabilities to ensnare Internet of Things (IoT) devices into a botnet, Palo Alto Networks reports.

    Following the successful exploitation of the targeted security flaws, the malware takes full control of the vulnerable devices and then abuses them to conduct various types of malicious activities, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

    Starting July 2022, Mirai variant V3G4 was used in multiple attack campaigns, likely by the same threat actor, based on the used hardcoded command-and-control (C&C) domains, malware downloaders, XOR decryption key, identical functions, and a ‘stop list’.

    To compromise devices, the threat actor targets 13 remote code execution vulnerabilities that allow them to run specific utilities to download and execute the Mirai malware on the target devices.

    The targeted vulnerabilities impact FreePBX Elastix (CVE-2012-4869), Gitorious, FRITZ!Box webcams (CVE-2014-9727), Mitel AWC, Geutebruck IP cameras (CVE-2017-5173), Webmin (CVE-2019-15107), Spree Commerce, FLIR Thermal cameras, DrayTek Vigor (CVE-2020-8515 and CVE-2020-15415), Airspan AirSpot (CVE-2022-36267), Atlassian Confluence (CVE-2022-26134), and C-Data Web Management System (CVE-2022-4257).

    Following successful execution on a vulnerable device, the Mirai variant makes sure that only one instance of the malware runs, then attempts to terminate processes included in the hardcoded ‘stop list’.

    Malware samples collected over the course of three different campaigns showed slight changes in the code. While some Mirai samples spread by brute-forcing weak credentials, others also use embedded exploits, but samples seen between September and December 2022 contain none of these capabilities.

    “The vulnerabilities mentioned above have less attack complexity than previously observed variants, but they maintain a critical security impact that can lead to remote code execution. Once the attacker gains control of a vulnerable device in this manner, they could take advantage by including the newly compromised devices in their botnet to conduct further attacks such as DDoS,” Palo Alto Networks notes.

    Organizations are advised to ensure that all devices in their environments are patched against known vulnerabilities, that they are protected using strong, unique passwords, and that unused ports and services, which are often targeted by cybercriminals, are either blocked or not accessible from the internet.

    Resource : https://www.securityweek.com/mirai-variant-v3g4-targets-13-vulnerabilities-to-infect-iot-devices/

    22Mar, 2023
    Mirai V3G4 botnet exploits 13 flaws to target IoT devices

    During the second half of 2022, a variant of the Mirai bot, tracked as V3G4, targeted IoT devices by exploiting tens of flaws.

    Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers reported that a Mirai variant called V3G4 was attempting to exploit several flaws to infect IoT devices from July to December 2022. 

    Below is the list of vulnerabilities exploited by V3G4:

    The threat actors’ goal is to infect the largest number of systems as possible to compose a botnet that can be used to conduct multiple attacks, including DDoS attacks.

    The researchers have observed three different Mirai V3G4 campaigns likely operated by the same threat actor for the following reasons:

    • The hardcoded command and control (C2) domains among these three campaigns contain the same string (8xl9)
    • The malware shell script downloaders are almost identical between the three campaigns
    • The botnet client samples use the same XOR decryption key
    • The botnet client samples use the same “stop list” (a list of target processes that the botnet client searches for and terminates)
    • The botnet client samples use almost identical functions

    The botnet exploited 13 vulnerabilities to achieve remote code execution on vulnerable devices. Upon successful exploitation, the malicious code executes wget and curl utilities to download Mirai bot from attackers’ infrastructure and then execute it.

    Mirai V3G4 botnet

    Upon execution, the bot prints xXxSlicexXxxVEGA. to the console. The experts noticed that V3G4 also supports a function that makes sure only one instance of this malware is executing on the compromised device. If a botnet process already exists, the botnet client will and exit.

    The botnet also attempts to terminate a list of processes, included in the hardcoded ‘stop list,’ by checking their names on the infected device.

    Unlike most Mirai variants, the V3G4 variant uses different XOR encryption keys for string encryption.

    The researchers also noticed that the bot samples from the three campaigns have minor differences. The original Mirai botnet sample spreads itself by brute-forcing weak telnet/SSH credentials, while other variants rely brute-force attacks and embedded exploits to spread.

    However, bot samples discovered between September and December 2022 don’t contain the functions of vulnerability exploitation and brute force of credentials.

    “The vulnerabilities mentioned above have less attack complexity than previously observed variants, but they maintain a critical security impact that can lead to remote code execution. Once the attacker gains control of a vulnerable device in this manner, they could take advantage by including the newly compromised devices in their botnet to conduct further attacks such as DDoS.” concludes the report. “Therefore, it is highly recommended that patches and updates are applied when possible.”

    Resource : https://securityaffairs.com/142358/malware/mirai-v3g4-botnet.html