Attackers are Targeting Vulnerable Fortigate and Pulse Secure SSL VPNs

Attackers are taking advantage of recently released vulnerability details and PoC exploit code to extract private keys and user passwords from vulnerable Pulse Connect Secure SSL VPN and Fortigate SSL VPN installations.

Attackers have been scanning for and targeting two vulnerabilities:

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  • CVE-2019-11510, an arbitrary file reading vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure
  • CVE-2018-13379, a path traversal flaw in the FortiOS SSL VPN web portal.

Both vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely by sending a specially crafted HTTPS request, don’t require authentication, and allow attackers to download files/extract sensitive information from the vulnerable servers.

Fixes exist for both: Pulse Secure released them in April and Fortinet in May, months before Devcore researchers Meh Chang and Orange Tsai shared their discovery with the audience at Black Hat USA 2019.

The researchers also released technical details and PoC exploit code for the Fortigate flaw earlier this month and plan to do the same for the Pulse Secure one soon.

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Read more: Help Net Security

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