Zero-Day Exploits: Ivanti VPN Targeted by Nation-State Actors

Hackers have been exploiting two zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure to deploy custom malware for espionage since early December, targeting a small number of customers. The threat actor, UNC5221, uses a set of tools for post-compromise activities, including custom malware for webshell planting, command execution, and credential theft. The attackers used compromised Cyberoam VPN appliances as command and control servers and are suspected to be an advanced persistent threat (APT) targeting high-priority victims. While there is no attribution, system admins are advised to implement mitigations provided by Ivanti as there is currently no security update addressing the zero-days.