Industrial Cybersecurity Threat Briefing
Stephen Ward, “iSIGHT discovers zero-day vulnerability CVE-2014-4114 used in Russian cyber-espionage campaign,” iSight -…
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
CVE-2014-4114 KEVPublic exploit High · 7.8 EPSS 81.6%
Microsoft Windows Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Microsoft · Windows
Summary
The Windows Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) component in Microsoft Windows, affecting Vista SP2, Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, 8.1, Server 2012 and R2, and Windows RT, fails to properly validate input and can be abused through a crafted OLE object embedded in an Office document. An attacker can execute arbitrary code by getting a user to open such a document, requiring no privileges but relying on that user interaction.
Official description · NVD
Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, and Windows RT Gold and 8.1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted OLE object in an Office document, as exploited in the wild with a "Sandworm" attack in June through October 2014, aka "Windows OLE Remote Code Execution Vulnerability."
Priority scorePatchfirst’s 0 to 100 ranking. It adds points for CISA KEV listing, ransomware use, EPSS, threat reports, public exploit code and CVSS. Every CVE page shows the breakdown. Breakdown
77.4 / 100
- Exploited
- Yes, in CISA KEV
- Reports
- 4
- Tactics
- 1/15
How an attack unfolds
Based on MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.How attackers get in
What can follow
Exploitation timelineDated milestones for a CVE: when it was disclosed, when exploit code became public, when exploitation was confirmed, and when threat reports named it.
First seen exploited 1 day before it was disclosed. Public exploit code (Metasploit) was available 1 day before disclosure.
- Disclosedday 0
- Added to CISA KEVEU database agrees+7 yrs
CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.
MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. techniques
2 TechniqueOne specific attacker behaviour in MITRE ATT&CK, such as T1190 “Exploit Public-Facing Application”. IDs with a dot, like T1059.004, are sub-techniques., grouped by TacticThe attacker’s goal at a stage of an attack in MITRE ATT&CK, such as Initial Access or Persistence. Each technique belongs to one or more tactics. in kill-chain order, 2 cited passages 11ExecutionTA0002
Command and Scripting Interpreter T1059 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
MITRE CTID mapping of the CVE · uncategorised
Malicious File T1204.002 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
AI mapping from the description · how it is exploited
user opens malicious Office document
via a crafted OLE object in an Office document
Lower-confidence links (2)
These come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict this CVE’s details (for example a public-facing technique on a bug that needs a user to open a file). Shown for completeness.
- Exploitation for Privilege EscalationT1068 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
- Exploitation for StealthT1211 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)
Detection
0 rules for this CVE · 134 general rules for its techniquesRules for this CVE
0Sigma ruleAn open, vendor-neutral detection rule for log data. Security teams convert Sigma rules into searches for their own SIEM. that reference CVE-2014-4114 directly.CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗
General rules for this CVE’s techniques
These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.
Malicious FileT1204.00239 general rules
- Droppers Exploiting CVE-2017-11882criticalstable
- Ursnif Malware C2 URL Patterncriticalstable
- Exploit for CVE-2017-8759criticaltest
- Potential Maze Ransomware Activitycriticaltest
- File With Uncommon Extension Created By An Office Applicationhightest
- Flash Player Update from Suspicious Locationhightest
- GAC DLL Loaded Via Office Applicationshightest
- HackTool - LittleCorporal Generated Maldoc Injectionhightest
Command and Scripting InterpreterT105995 general rules
- HackTool - Sliver C2 Implant Activity Patterncriticaltest
- Lazarus Group Activitycriticaltest
- REvil Kaseya Incident Malware Patternscriticaltest
- Turla Group Lateral Movementcriticaltest
- Windows Defender AMSI Trigger Detectedhighstable
- Windows Defender Threat Detectedhighstable
- Abusable DLL Potential Sideloading From Suspicious Locationhightest
- Add Insecure Download Source To Wingethightest
Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.
What security researchers reported
Named in 4 threat reports4 reportscitizenlab.ca2boozallen.comTrend Micro
Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2014-4114 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.
It’s Parliamentary: KeyBoy and the Targeting of the Tibetan Community
This malicious .pps file was weaponized using (closely related to CVE-2014-4114 aka Sandworm, which we have previously observed this exploit used against the Tibetan community) to execute the following embedded DLL:
Group5: Syria and the Iranian Connection
The initial Group5 targeting that we observed in the e-mails to Al-Ameer included PPSX documents as a vehicle for malware using two different techniques: (1) executing OLE objects using animation actions within a PowerPoint slideshow and; (2) using CVE-2014-4114 to drop and execute malicious code.
2 passages name itOriginal (opens in a new tab) ↗
Tech brief untangling the patchwork cyberespionage group
(PPSX) files exploit Sandworm (CVE-2014-4114), an RCE vulnerability in Windows’ Object Linking and…
Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)
Weaker evidencePulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.
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