Originally published at ssojet
Cybersecurity researchers have identified a significant cryptojacking campaign, named JINX-0132, targeting publicly accessible DevOps applications such as Docker, Gitea, and HashiCorp Consul and Nomad. Attackers exploit known misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to deploy cryptocurrency miners like XMRig, leveraging large compute resources that could cost organizations tens of thousands of dollars per month.
Image courtesy of The Hacker News
Exploitation Techniques
The attackers use off-the-shelf tools from public GitHub repositories rather than relying on proprietary infrastructure, which complicates detection and attribution. Their approach signifies a shift in the threat landscape, focusing on exploiting misconfigurations rather than traditional malware deployment.
Wiz researchers highlighted that attackers are particularly focused on the following applications:
- HashiCorp Nomad: A scheduler and orchestrator for deploying applications. The default settings allow any user with access to create and run jobs, leading to potential remote code execution (RCE) if not properly secured. More details can be found in the Nomad Security Model.
- HashiCorp Consul: A service networking tool that can be abused if not configured with access control lists, allowing unauthorized users to register services and potentially execute arbitrary commands.
- Docker API: The Docker API is often misconfigured, allowing attackers to perform actions such as spinning up containers or executing commands without authentication. Refer to the Docker API documentation for best practices.
- Gitea: A self-hosted Git repository manager that can suffer from RCE vulnerabilities if misconfigured or left with insecure defaults. For instance, older versions are vulnerable to CVE-2020-14144.
Vulnerability Statistics
Wiz reports that 25% of cloud environments are running at least one of these technologies, with significant numbers exposed to the internet. Specifically, among those using these tools, 5% directly expose them, and 30% of those deployments exhibit misconfigurations.
Security Recommendations
Organizations must implement best practices to mitigate the risks associated with these vulnerabilities:
- For Nomad: Enable access control lists (ACLs) to restrict unauthorized access to the job execution feature.
- For Consul: Disable script checks and restrict the HTTP API to bind only to localhost.
- For Docker: Ensure that the API is not exposed to the internet to prevent unauthorized access.
- For Gitea: Regularly update to the latest versions and do not enable Git hooks unless necessary.
Implementing secure single sign-on (SSO) solutions can enhance security across these applications. By utilizing SSOJet’s API-first platform, businesses can implement directory synchronization, SAML, OIDC, and magic link authentication, thereby safeguarding their DevOps environments.
Continuous Monitoring and Detection
To effectively protect against cryptojacking and similar attacks, continuous monitoring and detection mechanisms are essential. The use of tools that identify misconfigurations and unsecured endpoints can significantly reduce the risk of exploitation.
Conclusion
To defend against the evolving threat landscape, organizations must prioritize security configurations, leverage robust authentication methods, and maintain vigilant monitoring practices. SSO solutions from SSOJet can provide an added layer of protection, ensuring that access to critical DevOps tools is tightly controlled and monitored.
For further insights into securing your DevOps environment, explore SSOJet’s services or contact us at https://ssojet.com.
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