When an incident occurs — be it ransomware, a vulnerability exploit, or another kind of sophisticated attack — robust incident response can be the difference between quick remediation or costly, extended down time.

On August 22, 2024, SonicWall published a security advisory regarding a critical improper access control vulnerability in several SonicWall Firewall models. This vulnerability, identified as CVE-2024-40766, is a flaw in SonicOS, the operating system that powers these firewalls. CVE-2024-40766 allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to gain unauthorized access to resources and/or cause the firewall to crash under specific conditions.

On August 21, 2024, SolarWinds released a second hotfix for SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) version 12.8.3. This hotfix addresses a newly disclosed hardcoded credential vulnerability (CVE-2024-28987) that allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to access internal functionality and modify data. Additionally, the hotfix resolves the Java deserialization remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability (CVE-2024-28986) disclosed the previous week and fixes functionality issues introduced by the first hotfix.

In the summer of 2022, a few Twilio employees received an odd text message. Appearing to be from the internal IT department, these messages suggested employees need to reset expiring passwords through a specific URL. However, neither the URL or the message was legitimate, and the threat actors controlled the URL. They essentially tricked employees into giving away credentials, resulting in the compromise of over 130 connected organizations.

On August 20, 2024, GitHub released security fixes for a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in GitHub Enterprise Server, identified as CVE-2024-6800. GitHub Enterprise Server is a self-hosted version of GitHub, designed for organizations to manage and collaborate on code securely within their own infrastructure. This vulnerability affects instances using SAML single sign-on (SSO) with certain identity providers (IdPs) that publicly expose signed federation metadata XML.

Endpoints are a continuous target for threat actors. They serve as gateways to the overall network, meaning an attack that starts on a single endpoint can quickly spread across the attack surface. They offer a valuable entry point into an organization’s environment that can be used to launch sophisticated cyber attacks.

On August 13, 2024, SolarWinds released a hotfix for CVE-2024-28986, a critical Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting Web Help Desk (WHD). WHD is an IT service management software widely used across various industries for tracking and managing support tickets. This vulnerability arises from a Java deserialization flaw, which could enable a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable hosts.

On August 12, 2024, Ivanti announced a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in its Virtual Traffic Manager (vTM), identified as CVE-2024-7593. Ivanti Virtual Traffic Manager (vTM) is a software-based application delivery controller that manages traffic flow to ensure high performance, availability, and security for web applications.

With cyber attacks increasing in frequency and damage, it’s more important than ever for organizations to understand that an incident of any scale is more of a “when” than an “if.” That means that, as part of a comprehensive security strategy, organizations should not only focus on keeping threats out but also ensure that if a threat turns into an incident, they’re prepared to swiftly respond and recover.

Two major organizations breached in 2023 — MGM Resorts and 23andMe — have one part of their hacks in common: identity. Initial access in the 23andMe breach came from credential stuffing, and it was a lack of access control that allowed the threat actors to move deeper into the organization, ultimately exfiltrating data from millions of user accounts.