Heroes: Apple devices are in need of an emergency update and old vulnerabilities in EoL Cisco devices are under attack. Here's the info you need for August 21, 2025.
CRITICAL ITEMSDate & Time: 2025-08-21T07:51:16
The FBI has issued a warning that Static Tundra, an FSB-linked threat actor also known as Energetic Bear, is actively exploiting a seven-year-old vulnerability in Cisco IOS/XE devices. The campaign targets enterprises and critical infrastructure, leveraging thousands of unpatched, end-of-life devices to establish persistent access for cyber espionage operations.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: securityaffairs.com, darkreading.com
Date & Time: 2025-08-21T08:51:34
Apple has released emergency security updates for iOS and macOS to address a zero-day vulnerability. The flaw was reportedly being exploited in the wild in highly targeted attacks, making immediate patching critical for all users to prevent potential compromise.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: securityweek.com
HIGH SEVERITY ITEMSDate & Time: 2025-08-21T05:48:15
A security researcher has discovered and reported several significant vulnerabilities within McDonald's internal systems. The flaws, which included the ability to receive a new account's password in plain text, highlight potential risks to corporate and customer data and underscore the importance of security testing on internal-facing applications.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: news.ycombinator.com
EXECUTIVE INSIGHTSDate & Time: 2025-08-20T23:00:15
New research from Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 introduces "logit-gap steering," a technique demonstrating how an attacker can bypass the internal safety and alignment measures of Large Language Models (LLMs). This highlights the growing need for robust external security controls for AI systems, as internal guardrails alone are proving insufficient against sophisticated manipulation.
Source: unit42.paloaltonetworks.com
VENDOR SPOTLIGHTSpotlight Rationale: The FBI's warning about Static Tundra exploiting old, unpatched Cisco devices highlights a critical visibility gap in many organizations. Traditional security tools often miss or cannot manage end-of-life and un-agentable network infrastructure, creating persistent blind spots for attackers.
Threat Context: FBI: Russia-linked group Static Tundra exploit old Cisco flaw for espionage
Platform Focus: Armis Centrix™ for Asset Management and Security
Armis provides an agentless security platform that discovers, identifies, and classifies every device on the network, including legacy Cisco routers, switches, and other IT/OT/IoT assets. By passively monitoring network traffic, Armis can identify devices running vulnerable firmware versions, flag end-of-life hardware, and detect anomalous behavior indicative of compromise, directly addressing the tactics used by groups like Static Tundra. This provides security teams with the comprehensive asset inventory and threat detection needed to mitigate risks from unmanaged and legacy infrastructure.
Actionable Platform Guidance: Deploy an Armis collector to gain initial visibility into all connected assets. Prioritize alerts related to devices with known critical vulnerabilities or those exhibiting communication patterns matching Static Tundra's TTPs. Use the platform to create segmentation policies to isolate vulnerable, end-of-life devices from critical network segments until they can be decommissioned.
Source: armis.com
DETECTION & RESPONSE KIT⚠️ Disclaimer: Test all detection logic in non-production environments before deployment.
1. YARA Rule for Ivanti Avalanche SQLi (CVE-2025-8296)
rule Detect_Ivanti_Avalanche_SQLi_CVE_2025_8296 {
meta:
description = "Detects potential exploitation attempts of Ivanti Avalanche SQL Injection (CVE-2025-8296) in web traffic."
author = "Threat Rundown"
date = "2025-08-21"
reference = "ZDI-25-856"
strings:
$uri_path = "getCountMuStatDevicePropResultsFromMuListAgentIds" wide ascii
$sql_keyword1 = "UNION" wide ascii
$sql_keyword2 = "SELECT" wide ascii
condition:
$uri_path and 1 of ($sql_keyword*)
}2. SIEM Query — Potential Cisco Device Compromise
// Splunk Query Example
// Prerequisite: A lookup file `legacy_cisco_devices.csv` with a field `src_ip`
index=network sourcetype=firewall_logs action=allowed [| inputlookup legacy_cisco_devices.csv | fields src_ip]
| stats dc(dest_ip) as unique_destinations, values(dest_port) as ports by src_ip
| where unique_destinations > 10
| `comment("Looks for legacy Cisco devices communicating with an unusually high number of distinct external IPs.")`// QRadar AQL Example
SELECT sourceip, destinationip, destinationport, QIDNAME(qid) as event_name, count(*) as event_count
FROM events
WHERE LOGSOURCETYPENAME(devicetype) = 'Cisco IOS'
AND destinationport = 161 // SNMP port
AND NOT sourceip IN (REFERENCE_SET('Known_Network_Scanners'))
GROUP BY sourceip, destinationip, destinationport
HAVING event_count > 100
ORDER BY event_count DESC
LAST 24 HOURS 3. PowerShell Script — Remote Service Check
# Checks a list of computers for a specific suspicious service
$computers = "SERVER01", "SERVER02", "DC01"
$suspiciousService = "MaliciousSvcName" # Replace with service name from threat intel
foreach ($computer in $computers) {
if (Test-Connection -ComputerName $computer -Count 1 -Quiet) {
try {
$service = Get-Service -Name $suspiciousService -ComputerName $computer -ErrorAction Stop
if ($service.Status -eq 'Running') {
Write-Host "[ALERT] Suspicious service '$suspiciousService' is RUNNING on $computer."
}
} catch {
Write-Host "[INFO] Service '$suspiciousService' not found on $computer."
}
} else {
Write-Host "[WARN] Cannot connect to $computer."
}
}This rundown should provide a solid overview of the current threat landscape. Thank you to all our cyberheroes for your diligence and hard work. Stay vigilant!