{"id":5365,"date":"2024-09-18T15:51:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T20:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/application-security\/contractor-software-targeted-mssql-loophole"},"modified":"2024-09-18T15:51:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T20:51:52","slug":"contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/09\/18\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractor Software Targeted via Microsoft SQL Server Loophole"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt6d90778a997de1cd\/blt8814be01953809e2\/66eb33d8bdb6717568250c0f\/contractors1800_ADDICTIVE_STOCK_CREATIVES_alamy.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Threat actors have been targeting Foundation accounting software commonly used by general contractors in the construction industry, leveraging active exploits within the plumbing, HVAC, and concrete sub-industries, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Researchers at Huntress initially discovered the threat when tracking activity on Sept. 14. &#8220;What tipped us off was host\/domain enumeration commands spawning from a parent process of&nbsp;sqlservr.exe,&#8221; <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huntress.com\/blog\/cracks-in-the-foundation-intrusions-of-foundation-accounting-software\" rel=\"noopener\">the researchers wrote in their advisory<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">The software that the application uses includes a <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/ics-ot-security\/turkish-cyber-threat-targets-mssql-servers-mimic-ransomware\" rel=\"noopener\">Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL)<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"> instance for handling its database operations. According to the researchers, while it&#8217;s common to keep database servers on an internal network or behind a firewall, Foundation software contains features that allow access through a mobile app. Because of this, &#8220;the TCP port 4243 may be exposed publicly for use by the mobile app. This 4243 port offers direct access to MSSQL.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">In tandem, Microsoft SQL Server has a default system admin account, known as &#8220;sa,&#8221; which has full administrative privileges over the entire server. With such high privileges, these accounts can enable users to run shell commands and scripts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">The threat actors targeting the application have been observed brute-forcing the application at scale as well as using default credentials to gain access to victim accounts.&nbsp;In addition, threat actors appear to be using scripts to automate their attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">It&#8217;s recommended that organizations rotate their credentials associated with Foundation software and keep installations disconnected from the Internet to prevent falling victim to these attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/application-security\/contractor-software-targeted-mssql-loophole\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Threat actors have been targeting Foundation accounting software commonly used<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809],"class_list":["post-5365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dark-reading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1",2560,1440,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C864&ssl=1",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1152&ssl=1",2048,1152,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1",1024,576,true],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C575&ssl=1",825,575,true],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/contractor-software-targeted-via-microsoft-sql-server-loophole-scaled.jpg?resize=590%2C410&ssl=1",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Dark 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