CISA Alert: Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities

On July 28, 2021, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA released a cybersecurity advisory detailing the top 30 publicly known vulnerabilities that have been routinely exploited by cyber threat actors in 2020 and 2021. Organizations are advised to prioritize and apply...

iOS and iPadOS 14.7 and 14.7.1 Security Update: Discover Vulnerabilities and Take Remote Response Action Using VMDR for Mobile Devices

Apple recently released iOS and iPadOS 14.7 and 14.7.1 which include a security update that addresses almost 38 vulnerabilities, among them several critical RCE and privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Qualys recommends that security teams should immediately update all devices running iOS and...

Protect your Devices from Pegasus Spyware using VMDR for Mobile Devices’ Proactive Approach

Pegasus spyware is in the news, and it has been used to target devices of critical people from different sectors and countries including journalists, activists, politicians, and business executives. It has been said that a leaked list of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets was...

CVE-2021-33910: Denial of Service (Stack Exhaustion) in systemd (PID 1)

The Qualys Research Team has discovered a stack exhaustion denial-of-service vulnerability in systemd, a near-ubiquitous utility available on major Linux operating systems. Any unprivileged user can exploit this vulnerability to crash systemd and hence the entire operating system a kernel panic...

Sequoia: A Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Linux’s Filesystem Layer (CVE-2021-33909)

The Qualys Research Team has discovered a sizet-to-int type conversion vulnerability in the Linux Kernel’s filesystem layer affecting most Linux operating systems. Any unprivileged user can gain root privileges on a vulnerable host by exploiting this vulnerability in a default configuration. Abou...

Google Android July 2021 Security Patch Vulnerabilities: Discover and Take Remote Response Action Using VMDR for Mobile Devices

The recently released Android Security Bulletin for July 2021 addresses 44 vulnerabilities, out of which 7 are rated as critical vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities affect open-source components such as the Android Framework, Android Media Framework, and Android System. The vulnerabilities also...

Microsoft and Adobe Patch Tuesday (July 2021) – Microsoft 117 Vulnerabilities with 13 Critical, Adobe 26 Vulnerabilities

Microsoft Patch Tuesday – July 2021 Microsoft patched 117 vulnerabilities in their July 2021 Patch Tuesday release, and 13 of them are rated as critical severity. Critical Microsoft Vulnerabilities Patched CVE-2021-34448 – Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability This is being actively...

Qualys API Best Practices: Host List Detection API

Host List Detection is your subscriptions list of hosts and their corresponding up-to-date detections including: 1. Confirmed Vulnerability Detections 2. Potential Vulnerability Detections 3. Information Gathered Detections about your system After extracting Host List Detection vulnerability data...

Kaseya REvil Ransomware Attack (CVE-2021-30116) – Automatically Discover and Prioritize Using Qualys VMDR®

On July 2, 2021, Kaseya announced its software had been compromised and was being used to attack the IT infrastructure of its customers. The REvil ransomware attack leveraged multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in Kaseya’s VSA Virtual System/Server Administrator product that helps Kaseya customers ...

Analyzing the REvil Ransomware Attack

Over the past year, there has been a rise in extortion malware, e.g. Nefilim and Darkside, which steal and threaten to publish sensitive data or encrypt it until a ransom is paid. Nowadays, cybercriminals use various techniques to gain their initial foothold within a network in the organization...

Microsoft Windows Print Spooler RCE Vulnerability (PrintNightmare-CVE-2021-34527) – Automatically Discover, Prioritize and Remediate Using Qualys VMDR®

Update July 9, 2021: Added "Registry Settings Check After Installing the Updates" section below. Original Post: On June 29, 2021, a zero-day exploit was observed on Microsoft Windows systems which allows authenticated users with a regular Domain User account to gain full SYSTEM-level privileges. ...

DarkSide Ransomware

DarkSide ransomware is a relatively new ransomware strain that threat actors have been using to target multiple large, high-revenue organizations resulting in the encryption and theft of sensitive data and threats to make it publicly available if the ransom demand is not paid. Because of its...

Microsoft & Adobe Patch Tuesday (June 2021) – Microsoft 50 Vulnerabilities with 5 Critical, Adobe 21 Critical Vulnerabilities

Microsoft Patch Tuesday – June 2021 Microsoft patched 50 CVEs in their June 2021 Patch Tuesday release, and five of them are rated as critical severity. Six have applicable exploits. Critical Microsoft Vulnerabilities Patched CVE-2021-31985 – Microsoft Defender Remote Code Execution Vulnerability...

Monitor Windows Registry Changes with Qualys File Integrity Monitoring

With Windows registries storing a large number of programs and OS security settings and a large amount of raw data, threat actors have begun to use those registries as a data store for their malicious activity. It is therefore imperative for organizations to monitor changes in Windows registries ...

Reinforce Defense with File Reputation and Trusted Source Intelligence in Qualys FIM

Monitoring change events in the file system is both a crucial aspect of security and a critical compliance requirement. A file integrity monitoring tool functions as an essential layer of defense to identify illicit activities across critical system files and registries, diagnose changes, and sen...

Reinventing Cybersecurity Asset Management

Because security teams need their own asset inventory solution In conversations with our customers, it’s very clear that organizations need to establish a comprehensive view of their IT asset infrastructure because you can’t secure what you don’t know or can’t see. But that comprehensive view nee...

Introducing CyberSecurity Asset Management

With the rapid expansion of new IT technologies and their growing adoption rate, organizations face an increasing problem in securing their myriad on-premises, virtual & cloud-based assets. Add to that the explosion of intelligent devices on the corporate network and you have a huge landscape to...

Nefilim Ransomware

Over the past year there has been a rise in extortion malware that focuses on stealing sensitive data and threatening to publish the data unless a ransom is paid. This technique bypasses some of the mitigations put in place, such as backups, which would allow IT organizations to recover data...

Microsoft & Adobe Patch Tuesday (May 2021) – Qualys covers 85 Vulnerabilities, 26 Critical

Microsoft Patch Tuesday – May 2021 Microsoft patched 55 CVEs in their May 2021 Patch Tuesday release, of which 4 are rated as critical severity. Three 0-day vulnerability patches were included in the release. As of this publication date, none have been exploited. Qualys released 12 QIDs on the sa...

Google Android May 2021 Security Patch Vulnerabilities: Discover and Take Remote Response Action Using VMDR for Mobile Devices

The recently released Android Security Bulletin for May 2021 addresses 40 vulnerabilities, out of which 4 are rated as critical vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities affect open-source components such as the Android Framework, Android Media Framework, Android System, and Android’s Linux Kernel for...

21Nails: Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities in Exim Mail Server

Update May 7, 2021: Exim has released a security update to address multiple vulnerabilities in Exim versions prior to 4.94.2. See the CISA announcement. Original Post: The Qualys Research Team has discovered multiple critical vulnerabilities in the Exim mail server, some of the which can be chain...

The Convergence of Endpoint Protection with Detection & Response

By almost every account, trend, or metric, the cybersecurity threat landscape is getting worse year over year. According to Qualys Labs, 2020 saw the highest number of vulnerabilities ever recorded. The average time it takes to patch vulnerabilities is months not weeks or days. Ransomware payouts...

iOS / iPadOS 14.5 Updates: Identify Assets Requiring Update and Take Remote Action with VMDR for Mobile Devices

Apple recently released iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 which include a security update that addresses almost 50 vulnerabilities including several critical RCE and privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Qualys recommends security teams to immediately update all devices running iOS and iPadOS to the lates...

WhatsApp Vulnerabilities: Automatically Discover and Remediate Using VMDR for Mobile Devices

WhatsApp has recently fixed critical and high-severity vulnerabilities affecting WhatsApp for Android, WhatsApp Business for Android, WhatsApp for iOS, and WhatsApp Business for iOS. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-In has issued a high-severity security warning for WhatsApp users...

Manage Linux Patching with Qualys VMDR

As attacks on infrastructure continue to increase, security teams are looking to go beyond detection and response by eliminating the root cause of the attacks -- unpatched vulnerabilities. With the majority of production systems running Linux, IT teams have been looking for a single, efficient...

April 2021 Patch Tuesday – 108 Vulnerabilities, 19 Critical, Adobe

This month’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday addresses 108 vulnerabilities, of which 19 are rated critical severity and 88 are rated high severity. Adobe released patches for its Photoshop, Digital Editions, and Bridge products. CVE-2021-28310: Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Microsoft releas...

Qualys API Best Practices: Host List API

When you’re looking to add automation to your vulnerability management and policy compliance program, a good starting point is the Host List, which is your scanned asset inventory. More precisely, it represents which assets have been scanned and when for Qualys Vulnerability Management VM or Poli...

Introducing “This Month in Patches” Webinar Series

It’s no secret that the number of vulnerabilities is on the rise, and so too are the attempts by hackers to exploit them as quickly as they can. Over the last few years, the average time from vulnerability disclosure to exploit is down to a mere seven days. Organizations therefore need to move...

Google Android April 2021 Security Patch Vulnerabilities: Discover and Take Remote Response Action Using VMDR for Mobile Devices

The recently released Android Security Bulletin for April 2021 addresses 36 vulnerabilities, out of which 2 are rated as critical vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities affect open-source components such as the Android Framework, Android Media Framework, Android System, and Android’s Linux Kernel...

No Auth, Seamless Database Security and Compliance

As data breaches continue to target databases and attack techniques become more sophisticated over time, organizations are looking for dynamic and efficient ways to effectively monitor the compliance posture of the databases in their hybrid environments. They have traditionally used privileged...

Qualys Update on Accellion FTA Security Incident

Update April 2, 2021 to the March 3 original blog post: As part of our commitment to keeping customers and the community informed about how we are addressing and resolving the Accellion FTA cyber incident, we are providing the following update to confirm containment of the incident and share...

Assessing Mainframe Compliance While Minimizing Operational Impact

While many in the industry consider mainframes to be inherently secure systems that dont require additional hardening, this is not the case, according to recent Forrester surveys which reveal that security incidents are commonplace in mainframes. Mainframes are the backbone of many businesses and...

Extending your FedRAMP Program to Container Infrastructure with the Qualys Cloud Platform

Following the recent release of the FedRAMP Vulnerability Scanning Requirements for Containers, FedRAMP-authorized systems that make use of containers have one month from March 16, 2021 to submit a plan for compliance with the new requirements. Organizations with a need to certify their services...

Unified Dashboard Preview for Enhanced Security Visualization

Qualys has introduced the Unified Dashboard Framework UDF to enrich your dashboarding experience. Unified Dashboard UD brings information from all Qualys applications into a single place for visualization. UD adds a powerful new dashboarding framework to the Qualys Cloud Platform that will be...

Qualys Leadership Update: Moving Forward Together

Today, we announced that Philippe Courtot has resigned from his CEO role. As you may know, Philippe took a leave of absence due to health issues unrelated to COVID-19 last month. Our thoughts are with Philippe and his family as he continues to focus on improving his health. Over the past 20 years...

Security Advisory: Mitigating the Risk of Microsoft Exchange Zero-Day ProxyLogon Vulnerabilities

Microsoft recently released several security updates for Microsoft Exchange Server to address vulnerabilities that sophisticated nation-state actors are exploiting to exfiltrate critical data from a variety of organizations. Reports suggest attackers have been targeting these vulnerabilities sinc...

March 2021 Patch Tuesday – 82 Vulnerabilities, 10 Critical, Adobe

This month’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday addresses 82 vulnerabilities, of which 10 are rated with Critical severity. This follows an out-of-band security update on March 2 to address critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange. Adobe released patches today for its FrameMaker, Creative Cloud Deskto...

Microsoft Exchange Server Zero-Days (ProxyLogon) – Automatically Discover, Prioritize and Remediate Using Qualys VMDR

Update March 10, 2021: A new section describes how to respond with mitigation controls if patches cannot be applied, as recommended by Microsoft. This section details the Qualys Policy Compliance control ids for each vulnerability. Update March 8, 2021: Qualys has released an additional QID: 5010...

Qualys API Best Practices: KnowledgeBase API

This API Best Practices Series shows how to optimize your API usage starting with the KnowledgeBase API. The accompanying video presents these API best practices along with live code examples, so that you can effectively integrate the KnowledgeBase with other data and use it in process automation...

Expand Your Vulnerability & Patch Management Program to Mobile Devices with Qualys VMDR

As mobile devices have become ubiquitous in almost every business process, whether in bank branches, manufacturing sites or retail stores, they are now hosting business applications and data that is subject to regulatory compliance and security. With access to critical corporate resources inside...

February 2021 Patch Tuesday – 56 Vulnerabilities, 11 Critical, Adobe

This month’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday addresses 56 vulnerabilities, of which 11 are rated as Critical. Adobe released patches today for Reader, Acrobat, Magento, Photoshop, Animate, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. TCP/IP Trio Microsoft released a set of fixes affecting Windows TCP/IP implementation...

Unified SaaS Application Security, Detection, and Response

Organizations are rapidly embracing Software as a Service SaaS applications for scalability, ease & flexibility of use, and the benefits of not using their own infrastructure. To maintain their focus on business objectives during the new ‘remote workforce normalcy’, organizations have fast-tracke...

Unpacking the CVEs in the FireEye Breach – Start Here First

In a blog post on Dec. 22, 2020, Qualys revealed it has identified 7.5 million instances of vulnerability to the stolen FireEye Red Team assessment tools across an anonymized set of its 15,700-member customer base. Of the 7.5 million instances of vulnerability, 99.84% were caused by only 8 CVEs,...

CVE-2021-3156: Heap-Based Buffer Overflow in Sudo (Baron Samedit)

Update Feb 3, 2021: It has been reported that macOS, AIX, and Solaris are also vulnerable to CVE-2021-3156, and that others may also still be vulnerable. Qualys has not independently verified the exploit. Original Post: The Qualys Research Team has discovered a heap overflow vulnerability in sudo...

Dive Deep into VMDR

Qualys devoted the second day of the Qualys Security Conference entirely to vulnerability management, detection and response VMDR, a critical area for the security and compliance of hybrid cloud IT environments. Mehul Revankar, VP of Product Management and Engineering for VMDR at Qualys, set the...

The Evolution of the Qualys Cloud Platform

The global pandemic has upended everything, and in the cyber security world in particular it has highlighted the need for organizations to have a cloud-based security and compliance platform, Qualys President and Chief Product Officer Sumedh Thakar said during his keynote Monday at Qualys Securit...

Building an Open Cloud Platform

Qualys Chairman and CEO Philippe Courtot kicked off Qualys Security Conference with an assessment of current security challenges and a clear call to action on how to successfully overcome them. “Today security is front and center, and as we move to the cloud, we must rethink security,” Courtot sa...

Unified Vulnerability View of Unauthenticated and Agent Scans

Vulnerability scanning has evolved significantly over the past few decades. But the key goal remains the same, which is to accurately identify vulnerabilities, assess the risk, prioritize them, and finally remediate them before they get exploited by an attacker. Therein lies the challenge. It is...

January 2021 Patch Tuesday – 83 Vulnerabilities, 10 Critical, One Zero Day, Adobe

This month’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday addresses 83 vulnerabilities. The 10 Critical vulnerabilities cover Windows codecs, Office, HEVC video extensions, RPC runtime, and several other workstation vulnerabilities. Adobe released patches today for Photoshop, Campaign Classic, InCopy, Illustrator,...

Technical Deep Dive Into SolarWinds Breach

Many organizations have been compromised by the recent SolarWinds breach, which seems to be a targeted attack against both government and private agencies. The complete scale of this attack is still unknown, but what is known is that the hackers gained access to victims’ systems via malicious...