"⚠️ #Updated: Citrix CVE-2023-3519 Exploitation - Webshells Implanted! ⚠️"
Initial Release Date: July 20, 2023
The CISA has updated the alarm on CVE-2023-3519, a severe RCE vulnerability in NetScaler (Citrix) ADC & Gateway. In June 2023, threat actors exploited this as a zero-day, compromising a critical infrastructure organization. They planted a webshell, enabling AD reconnaissance & data exfiltration. Thankfully, network-segmentation controls halted their lateral movement. Citrix has since released a patch. Stay vigilant!
Summary:
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an advisory regarding the exploitation of CVE-2023-3519, an unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting NetScaler (formerly Citrix) Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and NetScaler Gateway. Threat actors exploited this vulnerability as a zero-day in June 2023, compromising a critical infrastructure organization's non-production environment NetScaler ADC appliance. The attackers planted a webshell, enabling them to perform Active Directory (AD) reconnaissance and data exfiltration. Although they attempted lateral movement to a domain controller, network-segmentation controls prevented their progress. Citrix released a patch on July 18, 2023.
Technical Details:
- CVE-2023-3519: This unauthenticated RCE vulnerability impacts various versions of NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway. The affected appliance must be configured as a Gateway or for authentication, authorization, and auditing (AAA) to be exploited.
Threat Actor Activity (Victim 1):
- Initial exploit chain involved uploading a TGZ file containing a webshell, discovery script, and setuid binary.
- The webshell was used for AD enumeration and data exfiltration.
- NetScaler configuration files and decryption keys were accessed.
- Actors queried AD data and encrypted discovery data for exfiltration.
- Attempts to move laterally and delete artifacts were blocked by network-segmentation controls.
Update September 6, 2023: Victim 2:
- Actors uploaded a PHP webshell, gained root access, and conducted AD queries.
- Exfiltrated data and deleted files and logs.
- Used compromised pfSense devices for command and control (C2).
Additional Observed Activity:
- Actors leveraged open source webshells and tools for various purposes, including exfiltration, persistence, and tampering with monitoring tools.
- Modified open-source tools to capture and exfiltrate credentials.
- Deployed tunnellers for encrypted reverse TCP/TLS connections.
- Employed Sysinternals ADExplorer for AD reconnaissance.
Update September 6, 2023:
The advisory was updated with additional techniques, including infrastructure compromise, tool acquisition, scripting interpreter usage, autostart execution, multi-hop proxying, file deobfuscation, permissions modification, defense impairment, indicator removal, masquerading, data staging, and protocol tunneling.
Organizations are urged to apply the provided patches by Citrix and implement the detection guidance to identify potential system compromises. Incident response recommendations are included in the advisory for confirmed compromises, while vigilant monitoring and security measures are advised to prevent further exploitation.
Source: CISA Advisory - AA23-201A
Tags: #Cybersecurity #Citrix #CVE20233519 #NetScaler #ZeroDay #Webshell #DataExfiltration #PatchNow #StaySafe