Procedure examples

RTM has distributed its malware via the RIG and SUNDOWN exploit kits, as well as online advertising network Yandex.Direct.

Lazarus Group delivered RATANKBA and other malicious code to victims via a compromised legitimate website.

Earth Lusca has performed watering hole attacks.

Transparent Tribe has used websites with malicious hyperlinks and iframes to infect targeted victims with Crimson, njRAT, and other malicious tools.

PROMETHIUM has used watering hole attacks to deliver malicious versions of legitimate installers.

Daggerfly has used strategic website compromise for initial access against victims.

PLATINUM has sometimes used drive-by attacks against vulnerable browser plugins.

Magic Hound has conducted watering-hole attacks through media and magazine websites.

Threat Group-3390 has extensively used strategic web compromises to target victims.

APT19 performed a watering hole attack on forbes.com in 2014 to compromise targets.

BlackByte exploited vulnerabilities such as ProxyLogon and ProxyShell for initial access to victim environments.

GALLIUM exploited a publicly-facing servers including Wildfly/JBoss servers to gain access to the network.

Kimsuky has exploited various vulnerabilities for initial access, including Microsoft Exchange vulnerability CVE-2020-0688.

Volt Typhoon has gained initial access through exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities in internet-facing software and appliances such as Fortinet, Ivanti (formerly Pulse Secure), NETGEAR, Citrix, and Cisco.

APT41 exploited CVE-2020-10189 against Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central through unsafe deserialization, and CVE-2019-19781 to compromise Citrix Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and gateway devices. APT41 leveraged vulnerabilities such as ProxyLogon exploitation or SQL injection for initial access. APT41 exploited CVE-2021-26855 against a vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Server to gain initial access to the victim network.

Salt Typhoon has exploited CVE-2018-0171 in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE software for initial access.

Dragonfly has conducted SQL injection attacks, exploited vulnerabilities CVE-2019-19781 and CVE-2020-0688 for Citrix and MS Exchange, and CVE-2018-13379 for Fortinet VPNs.

menuPass has leveraged vulnerabilities in Pulse Secure VPNs to hijack sessions.

HAFNIUM has exploited multiple vulnerabilities to compromise edge devices and on-premises versions of Microsoft Exchange Server.

MuddyWater has exploited the Microsoft Exchange memory corruption vulnerability (CVE-2020-0688).

FIN7 has compromised targeted organizations through exploitation of CVE-2021-31207 in Exchange.

Sandworm Team exploits public-facing applications for initial access and to acquire infrastructure, such as exploitation of the EXIM mail transfer agent in Linux systems.

Rocke exploited Apache Struts, Oracle WebLogic (CVE-2017-10271), and Adobe ColdFusion (CVE-2017-3066) vulnerabilities to deliver malware.

APT39 has used SQL injection for initial compromise.

UNC3886 has exploited CVE-2022-42475 in FortiOS SSL VPNs to obtain access.

Moses Staff has exploited known vulnerabilities in public-facing infrastructure such as Microsoft Exchange Servers.

Sea Turtle gained access to victim environments by exploiting multiple known vulnerabilities over several campaigns.

Ke3chang has compromised networks by exploiting Internet-facing applications, including vulnerable Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint servers.

BlackTech has exploited a buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, CVE-2017-7269, in order to establish a new HTTP or command and control (C2) server.

Leviathan has used exploits against publicly-disclosed vulnerabilities for initial access into victim networks.

Blue Mockingbird has gained initial access by exploiting CVE-2019-18935, a vulnerability within Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX.

Winter Vivern has exploited known and zero-day vulnerabilities in software usch as Roundcube Webmail servers and the "Follina" vulnerability.

Storm-0501 has exploited N-day vulnerabilities associated with public facing services to gain initial access to victim environments to include Zoho ManageEngine (CVE-2022-47966), Citrix NetScaler “Citrix Bleed” (CVE-2023-4966), and Adobe ColdFusion 2016 (CVE-2023-29300 or CVE-2023-38203).

APT29 has exploited CVE-2019-19781 for Citrix, CVE-2019-11510 for Pulse Secure VPNs, CVE-2018-13379 for FortiGate VPNs, and CVE-2019-9670 in Zimbra software to gain access.

Cinnamon Tempest has exploited multiple unpatched vulnerabilities for initial access including vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange, Manage Engine AdSelfService Plus, Confluence, and Log4j.

MirrorFace has exploited vulnerabilities in Fortigate and Array AG devices for initial access.

Medusa Group has leveraged public facing vulnerabilities in their campaigns against victim organizations to gain initial access. Medusa Group has also utilized CVE-2024-1709 in ScreenConnect, and CVE-2023-48788 in Fortinet EMS for initial access to victim environments.

BackdoorDiplomacy has exploited CVE-2020-5902, an F5 BIP-IP vulnerability, to drop a Linux backdoor. BackdoorDiplomacy has also exploited mis-configured Plesk servers.

Axiom has been observed using SQL injection to gain access to systems.

Ember Bear gains initial access to victim environments by exploiting external-facing services. Examples include exploitation of CVE-2021-26084 in Confluence servers; CVE-2022-41040, ProxyShell, and other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange; and multiple vulnerabilities in open-source platforms such as content management systems.

Volatile Cedar has targeted publicly facing web servers, with both automatic and manual vulnerability discovery.

ToddyCat has exploited the ProxyLogon vulnerability (CVE-2021-26855) to compromise Exchange Servers at multiple organizations.

Agrius exploits public-facing applications for initial access to victim environments. Examples include widespread attempts to exploit CVE-2018-13379 in FortiOS devices and SQL injection activity.

APT28 has used a variety of public exploits, including CVE 2020-0688 and CVE 2020-17144, to gain execution on vulnerable Microsoft Exchange; they have also conducted SQL injection attacks against external websites.

APT5 has exploited vulnerabilities in externally facing software and devices including Pulse Secure VPNs and Citrix Application Delivery Controllers.

Fox Kitten has exploited known vulnerabilities in Fortinet, PulseSecure, and Palo Alto VPN appliances.

GOLD SOUTHFIELD has exploited Oracle WebLogic vulnerabilities for initial compromise.

INC Ransom has exploited known vulnerabilities including CVE-2023-3519 in Citrix NetScaler for initial access.

Earth Lusca has compromised victims by directly exploiting vulnerabilities of public-facing servers, including those associated with Microsoft Exchange and Oracle GlassFish.

VOID MANTICORE has exploited public facing vulnerabilities within victim environments to include SharePoint CVE-2019-0604.