A Complete Overview of Log4j Zero-Day Vulnerability
Introduction
Whether it’s security devices or developer tools, the Log4j vulnerability has had a significant impact. However, a major issue in Log4j came to surface that logs error messages in all applications. As of January 2022, it has become serious security vulnerability and rates high on severity score.
Experts point out Log4j vulnerability as arguably the most severe in the online landscape. In fact, hackers continue to exploit the Log4j flaw in order to target corporate networks throughout the world. The reports of Log4j vulnerability came into the spotlight back in December.
Unfortunately, by the time reports came to the surface, almost a third of global web servers were compromised. It is no wonder cybersecurity experts see Log4j as a huge catastrophic event. In 2022, cybersecurity firms are at the forefront to prevent thousands of attempts from hackers to exploit the Log4j vulnerability.
Let’s dive into some of the more details of Log4j zero-day vulnerability and how organizations are dealing with it:
What Exactly Is the Log4j 0-Day Vulnerability?
Log4j is Java-based open-source software from Apache developers that runs on dominant operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS. Technically, Log4j allows you to create a separate activity record or built-in dedicated log to troubleshoot issues.
As open-source software, Log4j was largely used as the central logging library throughout the world. With zero-day vulnerability, organizations of all sizes have become vulnerable and want to follow the official Apache guidelines to get back on the right track.
As the severity of 0-day vulnerability increases, many open-source software solutions and applications are now at high risk. The fact of the matter is that the security technologists understand that the Log4j works for most digital infrastructures. And when it comes to open-source software solutions, most organizations don’t have enough control to fix weaknesses.
When Hackers Started to Exploit Log4j Flaw
According to Bloomberg, it all started when the cloud security professional of Alibaba reported a new security bug on December 1, 2021. After that, the open-source team of Apache received the email and alerted team members about a planned cyber attack on a global scale.
Log4j Flaw: Applications and Devices at High Risk
As long as the device is connected to the internet and runs on Apache Log4j, it is at risk. According to NCSC, the affected version of Log4j2 is part of the Apache Struts2, Druid, Solr, Swift, and Flink frameworks. Since then, Cisco has released relevant patches for impacted products.
Mechanics of Log4j Flaw and the Exploitative Objective of Hackers
The zero-day Log4j vulnerability within the Apache works as a logging utility that allows hackers to easily exploit RCE or remote code execution. In fact, attackers can exploit this security issue within the Java library to add different text in the log messages and then load a specific code straight from the dedicated server.
Not to mention, attackers with targeted servers can run a code through calls to the JNDI (Java Naming & Directory Interface). This connects the main interface with other services like DDS (Domain Name Service) and RMI (Remote Interface). In short, attackers can exploit DNS, URLs, RMI, and LDAP by redirecting external servers.
Log4j Attack Impact
Since the exploitation of the Log4j flaw, alerts have been issued by national cybersecurity establishments like CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre). Since its release, it is startling to realize that more than 60 variations of Log4j vulnerability were rolled out within 24 hours. In no time, the threat spread across millions of network systems across the globe.
Many companies have become victims of the Log4j flaw. In fact, the Log4j flaw has managed to expose millions of modern devices. Minecraft, the video game firm owned by Microsoft was the first victim of Log4j vulnerability. But from email services to web applications to cloud platforms, Log4j vulnerability has had a severe impact on tech companies such as Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft, and Google.
What Does it Take to Protect Your Organization?
As of now, companies have started to look for patching solutions to mitigate or avoid the Log4j vulnerability. The best approach to fix the Log4j vulnerability is to opt for an application patch or install a new system update.
The official upgrade, Apache Log4j 2, comes from the Log4j team to address log-back architecture issues. Similarly, Microsoft also now recommends its customers install newly released updates. In fact, Microsoft’s update release is part of their official security update guide dubbed as CVE-2021-44228.
Sum Up
In hindsight, patching seems to be the most effective way for organizations to protect themselves. The objective of companies should be to resolve critical vulnerability and follow the discourse around it. Security teams profess that in-depth is the need of the hour to remediate and safeguard enterprise systems.
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