In a world becoming more and more digital every day, it’s imperative to ensure the security of your digital assets.
Vulnerability management is the practice of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing vulnerabilities in an organization’s digital infrastructure. It’s the process of proactively protecting those assets from potential threats.
The need for vulnerability management has grown in lock step with our continual global interconnectedness and staying informed about the latest vulnerabilities has never been more important.
Vulnerability Management: The Basics
Vulnerabilities can be identified through a variety of methods including manual inspections, automated scans, and penetration testing.
Once identified, the vulnerabilities must be assessed based on the level of risk they pose to the organization. The assessment should include factors such as the type of vulnerability, the severity of the vulnerability, and the likelihood of its exploitation.
After assessment, the vulnerabilities should be prioritized based on their impact and remediation efforts should be taken to mitigate the risk. This can include patching the vulnerability or implementing additional security controls.
The importance of vulnerability management cannot be overstated. It is essential for organizations to stay informed about the latest threats, and to take proactive steps to mitigate the risk of these threats.
This process can be difficult and overwhelming for companies that don’t have the resources to build an in-house program making the implementation of a vulnerability management platform such as Strobes VM365 all the more critical to helping identify, assess, and remediate security vulnerabilities. In other words, a vulnerability management platform will be essential in 2023 for helping organizations stay on top of the latest threats and ensure the security of their assets.
With these things in mind, let’s ask the question. What were the most critical and dangerous vulnerabilities of 2022?
What were the Top Vulnerabilities of 2022?
Last year, the security community discovered a record number of high-profile vulnerabilities. In this post, we’ll discuss the top 10 vulnerabilities of 2022. Each vulnerability has a brief description and an image taken from our proprietary Strobes VI vulnerability intelligence platform.
Log4Shell/Log4j (CVE-2021-44228)
Technically, this vulnerability was discovered in 2021, but it has continued to cause a great deal of problems for organizations all over the world. Given how prolific it is, we feel it’s appropriate to include in this list.
Log4Shell/Log4j is a popular open-source logging library for Java applications. Researchers discovered a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the vulnerable system by sending a specially crafted HTTP request. It was estimated that close to 3 billion devices were affected.
Google Chrome Zero Day (CVE-2022-0609)
This zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2022-0609) was discovered in the Google Chrome browser. The vulnerability allowed an attacker to execute arbitrary code, and it was particularly dangerous because it could be exploited without user interaction.
Apple Out of Bounds Write (CVE-2022-42827)
Apple’s Out of Bounds Write vulnerability allowed an attacker to gain access to the system’s memory, allowing them to execute arbitrary code by sending a specially crafted request. Even though this issue is fixed in iOS 15.7.1, iPadOS 15.7.1, iOS 16.1, and iPadOS 16, Apple has stated that this vulnerability may have been exploited in the wild.
Microsoft Exchange Privilege Escalation (CVE-2022-41080)
Microsoft Exchange Server is a popular email server and last year a critical privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered. The vulnerability allowed an attacker to gain elevated privileges by sending a specially crafted request leading to them possibly pivoting to other accessible devices.
F5 BIG-IP iControl REST RCE (CVE-2022-1388)
CVE-2022-1388 is a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability that affects F5 BIG-IP iControl REST. The vulnerability exists in the iControl REST interface of BIG-IP, which is a web-based management interface for BIG-IP devices. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted HTTP request to the affected device. This can allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device and potentially take full control of the device.
Microsoft Follina MSDT Bug (CVE-2022-30190)
The Microsoft Follina MSDT Bug (CVE-2022-30190) allowed an attacker to execute arbitrary code after sending a specially crafted request. They could install programs, view, modify, and delete data, or perform any other action allowed by the account’s permission level. This vulnerability doesn’t require any escalated privileges to exploit and can seriously impact an organization’s data assets.
Spring4Shell/Springshell (CVE-2022-22965)
Spring4Shell/Springshell is a popular open-source application framework for Java applications and, while similar in name, doesn’t have as much resemblance to the Log4Shell/Log4j vulnerability discussed earlier as you would think. Researchers discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability in all versions of the Spring Framework.
Zimbra Collaboration Suite RCE (CVE-2022-37042)
Zimbra Collaboration Suite is a popular open-source email and collaboration platform. Researchers discovered a critical directory traversal and remote code execution vulnerability in Zimbra Collaboration Suite which, oddly enough, is caused by an incomplete fix of another Zimbra vulnerability (CVE-2022-27925).
Confluence Server and Data Center RCE (CVE-2022-26134)
Confluence Server and Data Center is a popular collaboration platform used by millions all over the world. Researchers discovered an Object-Graph Navigation Language (OGNL) injection vulnerability that allowed attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code. Although, in the spirit of transparency, not all Confluence Servers and Data Centers were affected. Atlassian Cloud sites that were accessed from an Atlassian domain were not impacted.
Adobe Commerce RCE (CVE-2022-24086)
In mid-February, researchers discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability affecting the Adobe Commerce and Magneto Open Source softwares. According to Adobe’s security bulletin, successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution on vulnerable systems. This critical vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild.
The Strobes Solution
These 10 vulnerabilities posed a significant risk to organizations’ digital assets in 2022, and it is essential for organizations to stay informed about the latest threats going into 2023. Organizations must take proactive steps to mitigate the risk of these threats by updating their software and implementing a vulnerability management platform.
Staying ahead of threats is essential for the security of your organization. Strobes VM365 is a vulnerability management platform that helps organizations stay informed about the latest threats and take proactive steps to mitigate the risk of them.
With Strobes, organizations can easily correlate data between vulnerability scans and vulnerability intelligence, making sure to keep them updated whenever there is a zero-day in the wild.
