• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware gangs exploit recent ConnectWise ScreenConnect bugs

Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware gangs exploit recent ConnectWise ScreenConnect bugs

Pierluigi Paganini February 27, 2024

New threat actors have started exploiting ConnectWise ScreenConnect vulnerabilities, including the Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware gangs.

Multiple threat actors have started exploiting the recently disclosed vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2024-1709 (CVSS score of 10) and CVE-2024-1708 (CVSS score of 8.4), in the ConnectWise ScreenConnect software.

ConnectWise recently warned of the following two critical vulnerabilities in its ScreenConnect remote desktop access product:

  • CVE-2024-1709 – CWE-288 Authentication bypass using an alternate path or channel (CVSS score 10)
  • CVE-2024-1708 – CWE-22 Improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory (“path traversal”)  (CVSS score 8.4)

Both vulnerabilities were reported on February 13, 2024, through the company vulnerability disclosure channel via the ConnectWise Trust Center. The company is not aware of attacks in the wild exploiting these vulnerabilities, however, due to the higher risk of being targeted by exploits, ConnectWise recommends installing updates as emergency changes within days.  

The issues affect ScreenConnect 23.9.7 and prior, below is the remediation provided in the advisory:

Two days after the vendor addressed the two vulnerabilities, it also updated its advisory to confirm the ongoing exploitation of both issues.

Trend Micro researchers observed multiple threat actor groups that are exploiting vulnerabilities in ConnectWise ScreenConnect for different purposes, including ransomware deployment, and data exfiltration attacks.

Trend Micro confirmed that Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware groups are actively exploiting both flaws and shared details about their attack chains.

Black Basta operators exploit the flaws to gain initial foothold on the vulnerable server, then they perform reconnaissance, discovery, and privilege escalation activities.

The gang was observed deploying the popular post-exploitation tool Cobalt Strike.

The attackers were observed searching for members of the ‘domain admin’ group to identify potential high-value targets for further attacks. Then the attackers also added new accounts to the local administrators group and deployed scripts to identify machines that connected to the Active Directory environment within the past 90 days. The attackers attempt to target these machines in further attacks or use them for lateral movement within the target network.

The Bl00dy ransomware group was also observed exploiting the two flaws in campaigns to deploy leaked builders from Conti and LockBit. The ransom notes deployed in the attacks allowed the researchers to link the attacks to the Bl00dy group.

The researchers also observed attacks where threat actors exploited these vulnerabilities in ScreenConnect via the XWorm malware. XWorm is a versatile malware that not only grants threat actors remote access capabilities, but also allows attackers to propagate through networks, exfiltrate sensitive data, and download additional payloads.

After establishing a presence on the susceptible ConnectWise server, we observed threat actors trying to execute PowerShell commands to download and run the XWORM malware.

Trend Micro also spotted threat actors deploying other remote access software, such as Atera and Syncro.

“Following our detailed examination of various threat actors exploiting vulnerabilities in ConnectWise ScreenConnect, we emphasize the urgency of updating to the latest version of the software.” Trend Micro concludes. “Immediate patching is not just advisable; it is a critical security requirement to protect your systems from these identified threats.”

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, ConnectWise ScreenConnect)


facebook linkedin twitter

Bl00Dy Ransomware Black Basta ConnectWise ScreenConnect Cybercrime Hacking hacking news information security news IT Information Security malware Pierluigi Paganini ransomware Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 27, 2025
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 27, 2025
Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

    Malware / July 27, 2025

    Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

    Breaking News / July 27, 2025

    Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

    Cyber Crime / July 26, 2025

    Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

    Intelligence / July 26, 2025

    Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

    Intelligence / July 25, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT