Juniper Threat Labs has recently reported ongoing exploitation of vulnerabilities in Ivanti Pulse Secure VPN appliances, specifically targeting CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887. These vulnerabilities have become conduits for cybercriminals to deliver malware, including the notorious Mirai botnet. CVE-2023-46805 is a critical authentication bypass flaw that affects Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) and Ivanti Policy Secure gateways, allowing remote attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and gain unauthorized access. CVE-2024-21887, a command injection flaw, is found in the web components of the same platforms and permits attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the appliance.
CVE-2023-46805 exploits a security oversight in the /api/v1/totp/user-backup-code endpoint, enabling attackers to perform a path traversal attack. This flaw impacts versions 9.x and 22.x of both Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure Gateways. For CVE-2024-21887, attackers can send specially crafted requests to the /api/v1/license/key-status/; API call to inject malicious commands. Both vulnerabilities are exploitable over the internet, posing a severe risk to network security globally.
The exploitation of these vulnerabilities has led to documented attacks where cybercriminals have used the compromised systems to download and execute malicious scripts that facilitate further system infections. The typical attack involves using the CVE-2023-46805 vulnerability to gain access to vulnerable systems and then leveraging CVE-2024-21887 to execute commands that download and run malware. The attack sequences include commands to delete files, download scripts from remote servers, set executable permissions, and execute these scripts, which include components of the Mirai botnet.
Given the severity of these threats, Juniper Networks recommends that organizations using Ivanti Pulse Secure appliances urgently apply the provided patches and review their overall security posture. Customers of Juniper Networks SRX Series Next-Generation Firewalls with an IDP license are protected against these vulnerabilities with specific signatures. As cyber threats continue to evolve, maintaining robust cybersecurity practices and staying informed about potential vulnerabilities is crucial for protecting sensitive data and network resources.
