Cyber Threat Report: 'Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Exploiting JetBrains TeamCity CVE Globally'

This Cybersecurity Advisory by CISA with US and international partners outlines activity which they link to APT29 (also known as The Dukes, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard) and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The advisory contains technical details and MITRE ATT&CK techniques used by the group as part of a campaign which included exploitation of CVE-2023-42793 in Jet Brains' TeamCity at scale.

Pre-compromise

This category is used for any applicable mitigation activities that apply to techniques occurring before an adversary gains Initial Access, such as Reconnaissance and Resource Development techniques.

Network Intrusion Prevention

Use intrusion detection signatures to block traffic at network boundaries.

Data Loss Prevention

Use a data loss prevention (DLP) strategy to categorize sensitive data, identify data formats indicative of personal identifiable information (PII), and restrict exfiltration of sensitive data.(Citation: PurpleSec Data Loss Prevention)

User Account Management

Manage the creation, modification, use, and permissions associated to user accounts.

Privileged Account Management

Manage the creation, modification, use, and permissions associated to privileged accounts, including SYSTEM and root.

Audit

Perform audits or scans of systems, permissions, insecure software, insecure configurations, etc. to identify potential weaknesses.

Operating System Configuration

Make configuration changes related to the operating system or a common feature of the operating system that result in system hardening against techniques.

Execution Prevention

Block execution of code on a system through application control, and/or script blocking.

Restrict File and Directory Permissions

Restrict access by setting directory and file permissions that are not specific to users or privileged accounts.

Restrict Registry Permissions

Restrict the ability to modify certain hives or keys in the Windows Registry.

Application Developer Guidance

This mitigation describes any guidance or training given to developers of applications to avoid introducing security weaknesses that an adversary may be able to take advantage of.

Update Software

Perform regular software updates to mitigate exploitation risk.

Disable or Remove Feature or Program

Remove or deny access to unnecessary and potentially vulnerable software to prevent abuse by adversaries.

Code Signing

Enforce binary and application integrity with digital signature verification to prevent untrusted code from executing.

Antivirus/Antimalware

Use signatures or heuristics to detect malicious software.

User Training

Train users to be aware of access or manipulation attempts by an adversary to reduce the risk of successful spearphishing, social engineering, and other techniques that involve user interaction.

Behavior Prevention on Endpoint

Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior.

Restrict Web-Based Content

Restrict use of certain websites, block downloads/attachments, block Javascript, restrict browser extensions, etc.

Application Isolation and Sandboxing

Restrict execution of code to a virtual environment on or in transit to an endpoint system.

Exploit Protection

Use capabilities to detect and block conditions that may lead to or be indicative of a software exploit occurring.

Vulnerability Scanning

Vulnerability scanning is used to find potentially exploitable software vulnerabilities to remediate them.

Network Segmentation

Architect sections of the network to isolate critical systems, functions, or resources. Use physical and logical segmentation to prevent access to potentially sensitive systems and information. Use a DMZ to contain any internet-facing services...

Multi-factor Authentication

Use two or more pieces of evidence to authenticate to a system; such as username and password in addition to a token from a physical smart card or token generator.

Threat Intelligence Program

A threat intelligence program helps an organization generate their own threat intelligence information and track trends to inform defensive priorities to mitigate risk.

Password Policies

Set and enforce secure password policies for accounts.

Credential Access Protection

Use capabilities to prevent successful credential access by adversaries; including blocking forms of credential dumping.

Privileged Process Integrity

Protect processes with high privileges that can be used to interact with critical system components through use of protected process light, anti-process injection defenses, or other process integrity enforcement measures.

Active Directory Configuration

Configure Active Directory to prevent use of certain techniques; use SID Filtering, etc.

Filter Network Traffic

Use network appliances to filter ingress or egress traffic and perform protocol-based filtering. Configure software on endpoints to filter network traffic.