Citrix was able to patch a zero-day vulnerability, while Adobe warns of attacks using ColdFusion Zero-Day and releases an urgent update that nearly fixes the issue. Nonetheless, the story is still not over, as these vulnerabilities are still exploited.
Citrix and Adobe Patch 0-day Vulnerabilities
Simultaneously, products of two companies were hit with critical vulnerabilities that allowed crooks the remote execution of malicious code. Citrix and Adobe are well known in the software market, so there’s no need to introduce them. The vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler has a CVSS of 9.8 out of 10, allowing for code execution without authentication. On July 18, Citrix said it had patched the vulnerabilities. However, attackers have likely had time to exploit them.
Adobe is doing a little worse in this regard. Adobe ColdFusion, a popular server-side scripting language, faces critical vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are noted as CVE-2023-38203 with a severity level of 9.8 out of 10 and CVE-2023-29298. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable server. The company soon released a patch that was supposed to fix the vulnerabilities. However, the patch provided by Adobe for CVE-2023-29298 on July 11 is incomplete, which means that remedies against CVE-2023-29298 do not currently exist.
Moreover, experts discovered that the vulnerability that Adobe patched a few days earlier was actually CVE-2023-38203 and not CVE-2023-29300. The security company made a mistake by unintentionally releasing a critical zero-day vulnerability to users already dealing with the threat posed by the incomplete patch. Project Discovery quickly took down the disclosure post, and Adobe fixed the vulnerability two days later. By the way, the CVE-2023-29300 vulnerability also has a severity rating of 9.8.
Consequences
While estimating the potential damage from these vulnerabilities is impossible, it can be compared to the MOVEit and GoAnywhere vulnerabilities. The former resulted in 357 individual organizations being compromised, while the latter affected over 100 organizations. However, both organizations have since released patches. Meaning users can only hope the problem will be fixed soon.
How to protect against vulnerabilities?
Protecting against vulnerabilities involves adopting proactive cybersecurity measures and practices. Here are some steps you can take to enhance your security:
- Keep Software Updated. You should regularly update your operating system, applications, and antivirus software. Developers release updates to patch security vulnerabilities, so staying up-to-date is crucial.
- Use Strong Passwords. Strong passwords will help prevent compromise through brute force. In addition, consider using a password manager to store and manage your passwords securely.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication. Adding MFA (multi-factor authentication) provides an additional layer of security by requiring extra verification (like a code sent to your phone). It will be a different and insurmountable barrier to intruders.
- Use protection solutions. Powerful antivirus software is integral to complementing the above recommendations. In the event of an attempt to infect the system, it will neutralize the threat before it can cause harm.
- Keep Abreast of Security News. Finally, stay informed about the latest cybersecurity threats and best practices to adapt your defenses accordingly.
Although there is no such thing as 100% protection, implementing these measures can significantly reduce your risk and make it harder for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
