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Static Tundra Exploits Cisco IOS Flaw for Cyber Espionage

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πŸ“° 4 unique sources, 5 articles

Summary

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The Russian state-sponsored cyber espionage group Static Tundra, also known as Berserk Bear, Blue Kraken, Castle, Crouching Yeti, Dragonfly, Ghost Blizzard, and Koala Team, has been actively exploiting a seven-year-old vulnerability in Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE software to gain persistent access to target networks. The attacks target organizations in telecommunications, higher education, and manufacturing sectors across North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The vulnerability, CVE-2018-0171, allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or trigger a denial-of-service condition. The group, linked to the FSB's Center 16 unit, focuses on long-term intelligence gathering operations. The FBI and Cisco Talos have issued advisories warning about the ongoing exploitation of CVE-2018-0171 by Static Tundra. The FBI has observed FSB cyber actors exploiting SNMP and end-of-life networking devices running the unpatched vulnerability to target entities in the United States and globally. The attackers collect configuration files for thousands of networking devices and modify them to facilitate unauthorized access. They use custom tools like SYNful Knock to maintain persistence within victim networks. Static Tundra uses publicly-available scan data to identify systems of interest and sets up GRE tunnels to redirect traffic to attacker-controlled infrastructure. The group's activities are primarily focused on unpatched, end-of-life network devices to establish access on primary targets and facilitate secondary operations. The ongoing campaign highlights the importance of maintaining a current inventory of network infrastructure and prioritizing patching for end-of-life devices. The FBI has also warned about the group targeting US state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) government organizations and aviation entities over the last decade. The U.S. Department of State is offering up to $10 million for information on three FSB officers involved in cyberattacks targeting U.S. critical infrastructure.

Timeline

  1. 20.08.2025 18:59 πŸ“° 5 articles Β· ⏱ 27d ago

    Static Tundra Exploits Cisco IOS Flaw for Cyber Espionage

    The US Department of State has announced rewards of up to $10 million for information on three FSB officers: Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov. These officers, part of the FSB's Center 16, have been exploiting the CVE-2018-0171 vulnerability in Cisco networking devices to breach organizations across various sectors. The FBI has warned about the ongoing exploitation of this vulnerability, which allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or trigger a denial-of-service condition. The FSB officers targeted more than 380 foreign energy-sector companies in 135 countries and were charged in March 2022 for a campaign between 2012 and 2017 targeting U.S. government agencies and energy companies. The U.S. Department of State encourages reporting through the Tor-based tips-reporting channel for information on the FSB officers' activities. The group's activities are primarily focused on unpatched, end-of-life network devices to establish access on primary targets and facilitate secondary operations. The ongoing campaign highlights the importance of maintaining a current inventory of network infrastructure and prioritizing patching for end-of-life devices. The FBI has also warned about the group targeting US state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) government organizations and aviation entities over the last decade.

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