Description

According to sources, Ransomware gangs are exploiting a critical security vulnerability in Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) servers, allowing attackers to gain remote code execution (RCE). This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-40711, arises from a deserialization of untrusted data flaw that can be exploited by unauthenticated threat actors with relatively low complexity. Disclosed by Veeam on September 4, 2024, the flaw was addressed with security updates, and a technical analysis was released by watchTowr Labs shortly after. To provide administrators time to secure their systems, watchTowr Labs withheld proof-of-concept exploit code until September 15. In recent incidents analyzed by Sophos X-Ops, attackers quickly adopted the CVE-2024-40711 vulnerability, leveraging it in Akira and Fog ransomware attacks. These attacks typically involved previously compromised credentials to create a local account in the Administrators and Remote Desktop Users groups. In one noted case, Fog ransomware was deployed, while another incident attempted to use Akira ransomware. Attackers initially gained access through compromised VPN gateways lacking multifactor authentication, and some were running unsupported software versions. The attackers also employed tools like rclone to exfiltrate data from unprotected servers. Furthermore, this vulnerability is not the first Veeam flaw targeted by ransomware actors. In March 2023, Veeam patched another high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2023-27532) that was subsequently exploited in attacks linked to the FIN7 threat group and used in Cuba ransomware attacks against critical U.S. infrastructure. Veeam's products are utilized by over 550,000 customers globally, including 74% of the Global 2000 companies, making them a prominent target for cybercriminals.