Magnitude exploit kit – evolution

Exploit kits are not as widespread as they used to be. In the past, they relied on the use of already patched vulnerabilities. Newer and more secure web browsers with automatic updates simply do not allow known vulnerabilities to be exploited. It was very different back in the heyday of Adobe Fla...

Exploit kits: fall 2019 review

Despite a slim browser market share, Internet Explorer is still being exploited in fall 2019 in a number of drive-by download campaigns. Perhaps even more surprising, we're seeing new exploit kits emerge. Based on our telemetry, these drive-bys are happening worldwide with the exception of a few...

PT-2019-3377 · Microsoft · Internet Explorer

Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions: Internet Explorer affected versions not specified Description: A remote code execution issue exists due to the way the scripting engine handles objects in memory. This could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the...

Exploit kits: spring 2019 review

Exploit kit activity remains fairly unchanged since our last winter review in terms of active distribution campaigns. But this spring edition will feature a new exploit kit and another atypical EK, in that it specifically goes after routers. The main driver behind these drive-by download attacks...

Exploit kits: winter 2019 review

Active malvertising campaigns in December and the new year have kept exploit kit activity from hibernating in winter 2019. We mostly observed Fallout and RIG with the occasional, limited GrandSoft appearance for wider geo-targeting. In addition, narrowly-focused exploit kits such as Magnitude,...

Exploit kits: fall 2018 review

Exploit kit EK activity continues to surprise us as the weather cools, the leaves change, and we move into the fall of 2018. Indeed, shortly after our summer review, a new exploit kit was discovered, and while no new vulnerabilities were added to the current EKs, several malvertising chains are...

Exploit kits: summer 2018 review

The uptick trend in cybercriminals using exploit kits that we first noticed in our spring 2018 report has continued into the summer. Indeed, not only have new kits been found, but older ones are still showing signs of life. This has made the summer quarter one of the busiest we've seen for exploi...

Magniber ransomware improves, expands within Asia

This blog post was authored by @hasherezade and Jérôme Segura. The Magnitude exploit kit is one of the longest-serving browser exploitation toolkits among those still in use. After its inception in 2013, it enjoyed worldwide distribution with a liking for ransomware. Eventually, it became a priva...

Exploit kits: Spring 2018 review

Since our last report on exploit kits, there have been some new developments with the wider adoption of the February Flash zero-day, as well as the inclusion of a new exploit for Internet Explorer. We have not seen that many changes in the drive-by landscape for a long time, although these are th...

Magnitude exploit kit switches to GandCrab ransomware

The GandCrab ransomware is reaching far and wide via malspam, social engineering schemes, and exploit kit campaigns. On April 16, we discovered that Magnitude EK, which had been loyal to its own Magniber ransomware, was now being leveraged to push out GandCrab, too. While Magnitude EK remains...

Magnitude EK actor goes for Bitcoin multiplier scam (updated)

It is well known that hot commodities tend to attract scammers and online criminals. The continuous rise of Bitcoin over the past year valued at over USD $7,188 at the time of writing is generating frenzy amongst fans of cryptocurrencies as well as those watching from the sidelines. While the...

New Magniber Ransomware Targets South Korea, Asia Pacific

Researchers identified a new ransomware family called Magniber that uniquely targets only users in South Korea and the Asia-Pacific regions. The ransomware is primarily being distributed by the Magnitude exploit kit, a primary distribution vehicle in the past for Cerber ransomware. Because of...

Cerber ransomware delivered in format of a different order of Magnitude

As a follow up to our study into the Magnitude exploit kit and its gate which we profiled in a previous blog post, we take a look at an interesting technique used to distribute the Cerber ransomware. Exploit kits are a very effective means of serving malicious payloads and an important aspect is...

Report: Second quarter dominated by ransomware outbreaks

The second quarter of 2017 brought ransomware to unprecedented levels with worldwide outbreaks that went almost out of control. In scenarios reminiscent of yesteryears worms, WannaCry created global panic as it used a critical vulnerability in the SMBv1 protocol to propagate like wildfire. Within...

Still Getting Served: A Look at Recent Malvertising Campaigns Involving Exploit Kits

Malvertising occurs when an online advertising network knowingly or unknowingly serves up malicious advertisements on a website. Malvertisements are a type of “drive-by” threat that tend to result in users being infected with malware for simply visiting a website. The victims of this threat are...

Still Getting Served: A Look at Recent Malvertising Campaigns Involving Exploit Kits

Malvertising occurs when an online advertising network knowingly or unknowingly serves up malicious advertisements on a website. Malvertisements are a type of “drive-by” threat that tend to result in users being infected with malware for simply visiting a website. The victims of this threat are...

Still Getting Served: A Look at Recent Malvertising Campaigns Involving Exploit Kits

Malvertising occurs when an online advertising network knowingly or unknowingly serves up malicious advertisements on a website. Malvertisements are a type of “drive-by” threat that tend to result in users being infected with malware for simply visiting a website. The victims of this threat are...

CVE-2 0 1 6-1 0 1 9: a Magnitude attack tool flash vulnerability-vulnerability warning-the black bar safety net

Last month, Proofpoint has a security researchers found the Magnitude of attack tools there appears to be some new stuff. So in their cooperation we analyzed the sample and found that Magnitude EK added before exist in the Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability, cve-2 0 1 6-1 0 1 9, and then the wild u...

CVE-2 0 1 6-1 0 1 9 Flash vulnerability being added to exploit kit package-vulnerability warning-the black bar safety net

4 on number 2, security researcher @Kafeine found that Magnitude of vulnerability use tools to pack a few changes. Very grateful he found the collection of these samples, we analyzed them and found that the Magnitude of the tool in the package to update an unknown Adobe Flash PlayerCVE-2 0 1 6-1 ...

CVE-2016-1019: A New Flash Exploit Included in Magnitude Exploit Kit

On April 2, security researcher @Kafeine at Proofpoint discovered a change to the Magnitude Exploit Kit. Thanks to their collaboration, we analyzed the sample and discovered that Magnitude EK was exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player CVE-2016-1019. The in-the-wild...