Cisco has patched a dangerous flaw that allows a hacker to access victims’ accounts from another machine in order to see all meetings, individuals invited, meeting passwords and past meeting records.
The shared memory information leakage vulnerability, found in the Cisco WebEx Meetings desktop app for Windows, allows an authenticated attacker to gain access to sensitive information either locally, or by running a malicious programme.
Assigned CVE-2020-3347, the exploitation is based on the unsafe usage of shared memory used by the video conferencing platform’s desktop client, according to Trustwave researchers, who discovered the flaw.
Once the WebEx Meetings application is installed, it adds an application to the tray that starts up automatically once the user logs on. If the user has configured the client to log on automatically too, which by default it does, several memory-mapping files open, with some unprotected from opening for reading and writing.
An attacker with permissions to view system memory could exploit this vulnerability by running an application that’s designed to read shared memory. The hacker can loop over sessions and try to open, read and save content for future examination.
Successful exploitation could give the hacker the power to retrieve sensitive information through this mechanism, including usernames, meeting information, as well as authentication tokens that can be used in future attacks.
“Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, there’s been an explosion of video conferencing and messaging software usage to help people transition their work-life to a work from home environment,” said Trustwave security research manager Martin Rakhmanov.
RELATED RESOURCE
Putting a spotlight on cyber security
An examination of the current cyber security landscape
“Vulnerabilities in this type of software now present an even greater risk to its users. Cisco WebEx is one of the most popular video conferencing solutions available, so I decided to turn my research skills to see how secure the platform is.
“In an attack scenario, any malicious local user or malicious process running on a computer where WebEx Client for Windows is installed can monitor the memory-mapped file for a login token. Once found the token, like any leaked credentials, can be transmitted somewhere so that it can be used to login to the WebEx account in question, download Recordings, view/edit Meetings, etc.”
Cisco has released a software update addressing this vulnerability, urging users to update their Cisco Webex Meetings software to version 40.6.0 and higher. The “relatively severe” flaw affected versions of the platform released earlier than this, with Rakhmanov testing the exploitation on version 40.4.12.8.
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Hackers are targeting Ivanti VPN users again – here’s what you need to knowNews Ivanti has re-patched a security flaw in its Connect Secure VPN appliances that's been exploited by a China-linked espionage group since at least the middle of March.
-
Broadcom issues urgent alert over three VMware zero-daysNews The firm says it has information to suggest all three are being exploited in the wild
-
Nakivo backup flaw still present on some systems months after firms’ ‘silent patch’, researchers claimNews Over 200 vulnerable Nakivo backup instances have been identified months after the firm silently patched a security flaw.
-
Everything you need to know about the Microsoft Power Pages vulnerabilityNews A severe Microsoft Power Pages vulnerability has been fixed after cyber criminals were found to have been exploiting unpatched systems in the wild.
-
Vulnerability management complexity is leaving enterprises at serious riskNews Fragmented data and siloed processes mean remediation is taking too long
-
A critical Ivanti flaw is being exploited in the wild – here’s what you need to knowNews Cyber criminals are actively exploiting a critical RCE flaw affecting Ivanti Connect Secure appliances
-
Researchers claim an AMD security flaw could let hackers access encrypted dataNews Using only a $10 test rig, researchers were able to pull off the badRAM attack
-
A journey to cyber resiliencewhitepaper DORA: Ushering in a new era of cyber security
