CVE-2023-34362: CL0P Ransomware Exploits MOVEit Transfer SQLi Vulnerability

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Updated on July 10th, 2023

On June 7th, 2023, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a joint advisory on an actively exploited critical vulnerability found in MOVEit Transfer [1]. CVE-2023-34362 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability that leads to remote code execution, and it is exploited by a ransomware group named CL0P

In this blog, we explain how the MOVEit Transfer CVE-2023-34362 SQLi vulnerability works and how CL0P ransomware exploits the CVE-2023-34362 vulnerability.

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What is MOVEit Transfer CVE-2023-34362 SQL Injection Vulnerability?

MOVEit Transfer is a managed file transfer (MFT) application by Progress Software designed to provide secure collaboration and automated file transfers of sensitive data. MOVEit Transfer is used by large organizations, including government and financial institutions worldwide, especially in the United States. On May 31st, 2023, Progress Software released a security advisory on MOVEit Transfer SQL injection vulnerability that can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized remote access to the user's environment. CVE-2023-34362 vulnerability has not received a CVSS score; however, it is a critical zero-day vulnerability. A quick Shodan search shows that more than 2500 MOVEit servers are exposed to the Internet over ports 80 and 443, and 73% of them are located in the United States. Major organizations such as BBC, British Airways, Aer Lingus, the government of Nova Scotia, Zellis, and the University of Rochester were targeted in CVE-2023-34362 exploitation attacks.

The affected versions of MOVEit Transfer are given below.

Product Name

Vulnerable Version

Fixed Version

MOVEit Transfer

version 2023.0.0 (15.0)

version 2023.0.1

version 2022.1.x (14.1)

version 2022.1.5

version 2022.0.x (14.0)

version 2022.0.4

version 2021.1.x (13.1)

version 2021.1.4

version 2021.0.x (13.0)

version 2021.0.6

version 2020.1.x (12.1)

Special Patch Available

version 2020.0.x (12.0) or older

MUST upgrade to a supported version

MOVEit Cloud

Prod:

version 14.1.4.94 or 14.0.3.42

Test:

version 15.0.1.37

MOVEit Cloud systems are patched.

On July 6th, 2023, Progress published an advisory on a new SQL injection vulnerability found on MOVEit Transfer. CVE-2023-36934 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical) and affects versions 2020.1.11 (12.1.11), 2021.0.9 (13.0.9), 2021.1.7 (13.1.7), 2022.0.7 (14.0.7), 2022.1.8 (14.1.8), and 2023.0.4 (15.0.4).

MOVEit Transfer CVE-2023-34362 Exploit - How Does It Work?

The earliest exploitation of CVE-2023-34362 dates back to May 27th, 2023 and it is attributed to the CL0P ransomware group. Exploiting the zero-day vulnerability found in MOVEit Transfer allows adversaries to deploy webshell to the victims' environment and execute arbitrary commands. After exploiting CVE-2023-34362, CL0P threat actors deploy a web shell named LEMURLOOT to establish persistence in their victims' environment. LEMURLOOT is written in C#, and malware analysis showed that it requires authentication for incoming connections. Adversaries provide a hard-coded password in the "X-siLock-Comment" header and run commands that allow them to download their victims' sensitive files from MOVEit Transfer. If the authentication fails, the webshell returns a 404 "Not Found" error.


Figure 1: LEMURLOOT Authentication code snippet [2]

CL0P Ransomware 

CL0P ransomware was first observed in February 2019 in an attack campaign run by TA505. Since then, it has become one of the most used ransomware in the Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) market until the arrest of suspected CL0P members in June 2021 [3]. CL0P ransomware is a successor of CryptoMix ransomware, uses the double extortion method, and exfiltrates its victims' sensitive data prior to encryption. 

TA505 cyber threat group is known to distribute CL0P ransomware via large-scale phishing campaigns. TA505 is estimated to have compromised more than 3,000 U.S.-based organizations and 8,000 global organizations [1]. 

How Picus Helps Simulate CL0P Ransomware Attacks?

We also strongly suggest simulating CL0P ransomware attacks to test the effectiveness of your security controls against real-life cyber attacks using the Picus The Complete Security Validation Platform. You can also test your defenses against hundreds of other ransomware variants, such as LockBit Black, BlackBasta, and Maui, within minutes with a 14-day free trial of the Picus Platform.

Picus Threat Library includes the following threats for CL0P ransomware: 

Threat ID

Threat Name

Attack Module

78610

Cl0p Ransomware Campaign 2022

Attack Scenario

51219

Clop Ransomware Download Threat

Network Infiltration

30539

Clop Ransomware Email Threat

Email Infiltration (Phishing)

Picus Threat Library includes the following threats for MOVEit CVE-2023-34362 SQL Injection vulnerability

Threat ID

Threat Name

Attack Module

83575

MOVEit Transfer Web Attack Campaign

Web Application

53684

MOVEit CVE-2023-34362 SQL injection Vulnerability Download Threat

Network Infiltration

76762

MOVEit CVE-2023-34362 SQL injection Vulnerability Email Threat

Email Infiltration (Phishing)

Picus Threat Library includes the following threats for LEMURLOOT Webshell:

Threat ID

Threat Name

Attack Module

20078

Webshell Web Attack Campaign - 2

Web Application

Picus Threat Library includes the following threats for TA505 Threat Group:

Threat ID

Threat Name

Attack Module

76380

TA505 Ransomware Campaign 2020

Attack Scenario

76083

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Downloader Download Threat

Network Infiltration

93517

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Downloader Email Threat

Email Infiltration (Phishing)

41761

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Download Threat - 1

Network Infiltration 

93777

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Email Threat - 1

Email Infiltration (Phishing)

66431

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Download Threat - 2

Network Infiltration 

72220

TA505 Threat Group Campaign Malware Email Threat - 2

Email Infiltration (Phishing)

Picus also provides actionable mitigation content. Picus Mitigation Library includes prevention signatures to address CL0P ransomware and other ransomware attacks in preventive security controls. Currently, Picus Labs validated the following signatures for CL0P ransomware:

CL0P Ransomware Mitigation Signatures

Security Control

Signature ID

Signature Name

Check Point NGFW

0EC09E0A8

Trojan.Win32.Generic.Win32.Generic.TC.2026NCcc

Check Point NGFW

0C72F204B

Trojan.Win32.Generic.Win32.Generic.TC.34a4PsqI

Check Point NGFW

099C0F2BA

Trojan.Win32.AZORult.TC.aef1mZTE

Check Point NGFW

092FF1006

Ransomware.Win32.Clop.TC.z

Check Point NGFW

0DC523B79

Trojan.Win32.Generic.Win32.Generic.TC.86dagzfu

Check Point NGFW

0CF0C16E3

Trojan.Win32.Clop.TC.589aUGea

Check Point NGFW

0A25D3C6C

HEUR:Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Encoder.TC.cf5cLMof

Check Point NGFW

0FB52E178

Ransomware.Win32.Clop.TC.ceabLbeG

Cisco FirePower

 

W32.Auto:968307a367.in03.Talos

Cisco FirePower

 

Attribute:MdeClass-tpd

Cisco FirePower

 

W32.Auto:3d94c4a923.in03.Talos

Cisco FirePower

 

W32.Auto:94b76ce34e.in03.Talos

Cisco FirePower

 

Win.Ransomware.Klopransom::in03.talos

Forcepoint NGFW

 

File_Malware-Blocked 

Fortigate AV

8003532

W32/HydraCrypt.P!tr.ransom

Fortigate AV

7991070

W32/Kryptik.GPOJ!tr

Fortigate AV

10008464

W32/KlopRansom.S!tr.ransom

McAfee

0x4840c900 

MALWARE: Malicious File Detected by GTI

Palo Alto

408691476

trojan/Win32 EXE.clop.n

Palo Alto

258945732

Malware/Win32.cleaman.gsv

Palo Alto

224687586

Trojan/Win32.zudochka.m

Palo Alto

407907849

trojan/Win32 EXE.malware.axkc

Palo Alto

382924014

trojan/Win32 EXE.hydracrypt.eb

Palo Alto

386372397

trojan/Win32 EXE.hydracrypt.ec

Palo Alto

322065612

Trojan/Win32.ransom.quo

Palo Alto

379726866

trojan/Win32 EXE.encoder.tc

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References

[1] "#StopRansomware: CL0P Ransomware Gang Exploits CVE-2023-34362 MOVEit Vulnerability," Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA. [Online]. Available: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-158a. [Accessed: Jun. 09, 2023]

[2] N. Noll, "Critical Vulnerability in Progress MOVEit Transfer: Technical Analysis and Recommendations," TrustedSec, Jun. 01, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.trustedsec.com/blog/critical-vulnerability-in-progress-moveit-transfer-technical-analysis-and-recommendations/. [Accessed: Jun. 09, 2023]

[3] H. C. Yuceel, "Clop Ransomware Gang," Aug. 22, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.picussecurity.com/resource/clop-ransomware-gang. [Accessed: Jun. 09, 2023]