#IOSXE

2025-11-01

Hey everyone! It's been a bit quiet over the last 24 hours, but we still have some critical updates to cover, including a university email system compromise, an ongoing exploitation campaign targeting Cisco devices, and a significant arrest in the cybercrime world. Let's dive in:

University of Pennsylvania Hit by Politically Motivated Email Attack ⚠️

- The University of Pennsylvania is investigating a fraudulent and offensive email sent to thousands of current and former students from a compromised Graduate School of Education (GSE) address.
- The email contained criticisms related to affirmative action and threatened a data leak, mirroring similar attacks on other universities (Columbia, NYU, UMN) following the Supreme Court's ruling on race-based admissions.
- This incident highlights how politically motivated actors are leveraging cyber means, specifically email system compromises, to push agendas and potentially exfiltrate sensitive data. Organisations should bolster email security and incident response plans.

🗞️ The Record | therecord.media/upenn-hacker-e

Ongoing BADCANDY Attacks Exploiting Cisco IOS XE Vulnerability 🛡️

- The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has warned of persistent cyber attacks targeting unpatched Cisco IOS XE devices, exploiting the critical CVE-2023-20198 (CVSS 10.0) vulnerability.
- Attackers are deploying a new, low-equity Lua-based web shell implant called BADCANDY, which allows them to create privileged accounts and seize control. While non-persistent, threat actors are re-infecting devices after reboots if they remain unpatched.
- Defenders must immediately patch Cisco IOS XE devices, limit public exposure of the web user interface, and review configurations for any rogue privilege 15 accounts (e.g., "cisco_tac_admin") or unknown tunnel interfaces.

📰 The Hacker News | thehackernews.com/2025/11/asd-

Alleged 764 Leader Arrested, Faces Life in Prison 🚨

- Federal law enforcement has arrested Baron Cain Martin, the alleged leader of 764, a violent extremist group, on 29 charges including providing material support to terrorists, child exploitation, cyberstalking, and murder.
- Martin, also known as "Convict," is accused of producing and distributing a guide on how to identify, groom, and extort vulnerable children, particularly those with mental health issues.
- This significant arrest is part of a broader crackdown on 764 and "The Com" – a global collective involved in financially motivated, sexual, and violent cybercrimes, underscoring the severe real-world impact of online criminal enterprises.

🤫 CyberScoop | cyberscoop.com/baron-cain-mart

#CyberSecurity #ThreatIntelligence #Vulnerability #Cisco #IOSXE #BADCANDY #CyberAttack #IncidentResponse #Cybercrime #LawEnforcement #ChildExploitation #InfoSec

Security Landsecurityland
2025-05-08

🚨 Cisco issues emergency alert: A critical vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) in IOS XE Wireless Controller risks root access. Learn mitigation steps now.

security.land/critical-vulnera

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚢ColinGrady@infosec.exchange
2024-01-17

There is still ongoing #cisco #iosxe compromise activity ongoing. If you have an IOS-XE device, patch! And stop opening the admin interface to the Internet. Please.

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-11-16

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198 #CVE-2023-20273

It's been a while, exploit activity has decreased || mostly consists of Auth Bypass + simple recon.

However, we recently found a new version of the Implant 👀 No clear #attribution for now, original TA or copycat? #IoC ⬇️

Since the MO and Implant code of the original TA are widely known by now we can't tie it to them confidently.
What stands out in this case:
1. new path (84c8bc4.html) + 404 return
2. separation of the Implant delivery and C2 infra:

138.122.193[.]157📥
134.122.75[.]64📣

The commands issued during the Implant delivery stayed the same for the most part, although now the attacker calculated SHA-1 hashsums of dropped files to read back and verify their integrity.

/var/www/f099.css
/tmp/pvp_coco
/tmp/pvp_wd_run

Did anyone spot similar activity? We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading today's thread 🍪

#infosec #cybersecurity #cyberdefense #blueteam

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-11-04

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198 #CVE-2023-20273

TAs are wrecking our weekend, again 🙃

We managed to capture more activity and V3 of the Lua Implant, adding another HTTP Header and disrupting fingerprinting, again.

#cybersecurity #infosec #cyberdefense #blueteam

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-11-03

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198 #CVE-2023-20273

We updated our #IoC for exploit attempts that hit our honeypot. You can find them on #GitHub: github.com/SIFalcon/research/b

Based on modus operandi and infrastructure we managed to cluster certain attacking hosts togehter ⬇️

We also saw new traffic to the Implant, this time from 107.175.229[.]142, again via the user "cisco_support". Executed recon commands include:

show ip interface brief
show ip dns view
show ip name-servers

#infosec #cybersecurity #cyberdefense

2023-10-29

#Verpasstodon

Cisco IOS XE und die verschwundenen Hintertüren

Die Anzahl der offensichtlich kompromittierten Geräte ist auch in Deutschland schlagartig gefallen, was wohl kaum an den gerade erschienenen Patches liegt.

heise.de/news/Cisco-IOS-XE-und

#Cisco #IOSXE #Security

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-28

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198 #CVE-2023-20273

Patience is a virtue 🙂

We can confirm: New activity from IP 192.3.101[.]111 today. Our HPs 🍯 show exploit attempts on clean appl. + Implant usage e.g. "show ver" for recon.

Happy to share PCAPs, TLP:💛 ➡️ DM.
cc @ET_Labs

#cybersecurity #infosec

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-23

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198 #CVE-2023-20273

Let's recap on the exploitation activity this weekend in a thread. We are open-sourcing the logs from our honeypots, you can find them here: github.com/SIFalcon/research/t

In total we recorded four exploitation attempts on our honeypots since Friday evening. Out of those, three incidents only differ by the password set for the "cisco_support" user in our logs.

A curious case occurred on Oct. 21 at 13:12 UTC when SELinux logged "ACV denied" msgs related to an exploit attempt. We can infer that a shell command with a heredoc was executed (sh-thd tmp files) + attempts to write nginx-conf, cisco_service.conf and an exec of "ps". The user account cleanup now also includes the other two account names "cisco_tac_admin" and "cisco_sys_manager", that were previously documented by Cisco, but did not show up in any of our logs.

Low confidence: the SELinux logs could be related to the "cleanup" of the implant that seems to have occurred. According to @shadowserver
the number of appliances with active implants plummeted suddenly: dashboard.shadowserver.org/sta

.@BleepingComputer is also reporting on the significant decrease of active webshells, with details on how or why still unclear.

📰 You can find the article here: bleepingcomputer.com/news/secu

Feel free to share your interpretations and observations on the matter! 😃

As a side note: Cisco updated their advisory to include the second vulnerability (#CVE-2023-20273) and is now providing a patch for the most recent IOS XE version 17.9: sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/securi

#cybersecurity #infosec

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-21

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198

We had some activity on one of our Honeypots last night. Coincidentally it's again the one with the oldest IOS XE release we have (16.3.7).
Sadly nginx logs are only available on 16.6.1 and up...

#cybersecurity #infosec

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-20

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198

Waiting for the bad guys to hit the new honeypots...
We'll keep you updated!

Have a nice weekend :)
(and get your real appliances off the web, otherwise you might be in for a surprise on Monday morning)

#infosec #cybersecurity

Nightfighter 🛡️Optimus@social.tchncs.de
2023-10-20

If you have not already done so, you should patch your #Cisco devices with #IOSXE now. It appears that this #vulnerability is already being actively exploited.

#CVE-2023-20198

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/securi

Nightfighter 🛡️Optimus@social.tchncs.de
2023-10-20

Wer es noch nicht getan hat, sollte jetzt seine #Cisco Geräte mit #IOSXE patchen. Offensichtlich wird die #Sicherheitslücke bereits aktiv ausgenutzt.

#CVE-2023-20198

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/securi

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-19

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198

In our quest to "catch 'em all" we set up router honeypots 🍯

Case 1: TA created known-bad account "cisco_support" + logged in; failed to install Implant but managed to clear some logs, so we'll have to tune it slightly😅

154.53.63[.]93

#cybersecurity #infosec

SECUINFRA Falcon TeamSI_FalconTeam@infosec.exchange
2023-10-18

🚨 #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE-2023-20198
A new Priv. Esc. vulnerability in the web UI of many Cisco enterprise network appliances (e.g. Catalyst series) is actively being exploited.

📰 Check out our advisory here: secuinfra.com/en/techtalk/cisc

➡️#CompromiseAssessment #dfir 🔍​

The raw numbers recorded by Shadowserver are looking very bleak...

#infosec #cybersecurity

deltatux :donor:deltatux@infosec.town
2023-10-17

New Cisco IOS XE zero day vulnerability has been disclosed as CVE-2023-20198.

This vulnerability is being actively exploited with thousands of Cisco IOS XE devices being breached.

This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 10/10 and affects any Cisco IOS XE devices with HTTP/HTTPS service enabled & is Internet facing. Successful exploitation by the attacker could allow them to create admin-level accounts & take over the network.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/10/actively-exploited-cisco-0-day-with-maximum-10-severity-gives-full-network-control/

#infosec #cybersecurity #Cisco #IOSXE #CVE_2023_20198 #zeroday

🛡 H3lium@infosec.exchange/:~# :blinking_cursor:​H3liumb0y@infosec.exchange
2023-10-17

"🚨 Critical Vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software Web UI! 🚨"

Cisco has identified a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in the web UI feature of Cisco IOS XE Software. If exposed to the internet or untrusted networks, this flaw allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to create an account with privilege level 15 access, potentially gaining control of the affected system. 🕸️💻

Cisco is actively aware of the exploitation of this vulnerability. The issue was discovered during the resolution of multiple Cisco TAC support cases. There are currently no workarounds available. However, Cisco recommends disabling the HTTP Server feature on all internet-facing systems as a precautionary measure. 🚫🌐

For more details and to check if your system might be affected, visit the official advisory: Cisco Security Advisory

Tags: #Cisco #IOSXE #WebUI #Vulnerability #PrivilegeEscalation #CyberSecurity #InfoSec #PatchNow 🛡️🔐

2023-04-11

"Mehr als 15 Millionen verwundbare Systeme mit #Schwachstellen aus dem Known-Exploited-Vulnerabilities-Catalog (#KEV) der US-Cyber-#Sicherheitsbehörde #CISA haben IT-Sicherheitsforscher von Rezilion mit der Datenbank #Shodan aufgespürt."

#KRITIS #Security #Exploits #Windows #AdobeFlashPlayer #InternetExplorer #MicrosoftOffice #GoogleChrome #AppleiOS #CiscoIOS #IOSXE

heise.de/news/IT-Forscher-Mehr

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