Weekly Cybersecurity Digest: Top 5 News Stories in the Digital Sphere

1. FBI Cracks Down on Dark Web Marketplace Managed by Russian and Kazakh Nationals

The FBI has indicted two individuals, Alex Khodyrev, a Kazakhstan national, and Pavel Kublitskii, a Russian national, for allegedly running a dark web marketplace called WWH Club, which specializes in selling sensitive personal and financial information. The investigation, initiated in 2020, revealed the marketplace's involvement in facilitating cybercrime through the sale of stolen data and training courses for aspiring criminals.

Key Details:

• Indictment Charges: Khodyrev and Kublitskii are charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and wire fraud.
• WWH Club Operations: The platform, active from 2014 to 2024, hosted forums and marketplaces for cybercriminal activities, including the sale of PII, credit card details, and hacking services.
• Cybercrime Training: WWH Club offered online courses teaching fraud techniques for fees ranging from $110 to $664, with undercover FBI agents paying in bitcoin to attend.
• Large User Base: The platform had 353,000 users by March 2023, profiting from membership and advertising fees.
• Ongoing Operations: Despite the arrests, WWH Club remains operational, with other administrators attempting to distance themselves from the accused.
• Potential Sentences: If convicted, both Khodyrev and Kublitskii face up to 20 years in federal prison, along with the forfeiture of luxury vehicles purchased with criminal proceeds.

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2. GitHub Actions Vulnerable to Typosquatting, Exposing Developers to Hidden Malicious Code

Threat actors are leveraging typosquatting to exploit GitHub Actions, a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) platform, by tricking developers into running malicious code through minor typing errors.

Key Points:

• Typosquatting Attack: Involves attackers creating repositories with names resembling popular GitHub Actions to mislead developers who mistype the action name.
• Impact: This can lead to the execution of malicious code, theft of sensitive data, and even compromise of an organization's other repositories.
• Orca's Findings: A search found 198 files with misspelled GitHub actions, putting these projects at risk of supply chain attacks.
• Advisory: Developers are advised to carefully verify action names, use trusted sources, and periodically audit their CI/CD workflows to prevent such attacks.
• Potential Risk: The impact on private repositories remains unknown, posing an even greater concern.

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3. Android Users Urged to Install Latest Security Updates to Fix Actively Exploited Flaw

Google has released a security update to address a high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-32896) in the Android operating system, which is actively being exploited in the wild. The flaw, rated with a CVSS score of 7.8, involves a privilege escalation issue in the Android Framework component.

Key Points:

• Vulnerability Details: CVE-2024-32896 allows local privilege escalation without additional execution privileges.
• Active Exploitation: The flaw is being exploited in a limited, targeted manner, initially impacting Google Pixel devices but now affecting the wider Android ecosystem.
• Physical Access Required: Exploitation requires physical access to the device and affects the factory reset process.
• Action: Google is working with Android OEMs to roll out fixes, and users are strongly advised to install security updates as soon as they are available to safeguard their devices.

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4. TIDRONE Espionage Group Targets Taiwan Drone Makers in Cyber Campaign

A newly discovered threat actor, referred to as TIDRONE, has been targeting drone manufacturers in Taiwan since 2024 in an espionage-driven cyber attack campaign. The campaign is believed to have ties to Chinese-speaking groups, with a focus on military-related industries.

Key Points:

• Espionage Campaign: TIDRONE is targeting Taiwan's drone industry, potentially to gather sensitive military information.
• Malware Deployed: The group uses custom malware such as CXCLNT and CLNTEND, along with remote desktop tools like UltraVNC.
• Supply Chain Attack: The involvement of common ERP software across multiple victims suggests a possible supply chain compromise.
• Stages of Attack: The campaign includes privilege escalation through UAC bypass, credential dumping, and disabling antivirus software.
• Malware Capabilities: CXCLNT allows basic file transfers and data collection, while CLNTEND, a remote access tool (RAT), communicates through multiple protocols like TCP, HTTP, HTTPS, and SMB.
• Chinese Ties: The group's activities, aligned with previous Chinese espionage operations, suggest connections to an unidentified Chinese-speaking threat actor.

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5. Critical Security Flaw Found in LiteSpeed Cache Plugin for WordPress

A critical security vulnerability (CVE-2024-44000 ) has been identified in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress, which could allow unauthenticated users to take control of arbitrary accounts. The flaw, with a CVSS score of 7.5, impacts versions up to and including 6.4.1 and has been patched in version 6.5.0.1.

Key Details:

• Vulnerability: Allows unauthorized access to logged-in users' accounts, potentially leading to Administrator-level access.
• Cause: Public exposure of the "/wp-content/debug.log" file, which can contain sensitive user cookie information.
• Risk Factors: The issue only affects sites with the debug feature enabled, which is disabled by default.
• Mitigation: The patch relocates the debug log, randomizes filenames, and removes cookie logging. Users are advised to remove old log files and add .htaccess rules to prevent direct file access.

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