Particle.news

Download on the App Store

SonicWall Investigates Suspected Zero-Day in SSL VPNs Exploited by Akira Ransomware

It has enlisted outside researchers after federal alerts highlighted an unpatched access vulnerability

SonicWall
Image
Image
Image

Overview

  • SonicWall confirmed it is probing a surge of ransomware intrusions on its Gen 7 firewalls and is collaborating with Arctic Wolf Labs, Google Mandiant and Huntress to assess a potential zero-day exploit.
  • No patch is available yet, so the vendor recommends disabling SSL VPN services where feasible and restricting connectivity to known, trusted IP addresses.
  • Additional interim defenses include enabling botnet protection and geo-IP filtering, removing inactive firewall user accounts and enforcing robust password hygiene and multi-factor authentication.
  • Arctic Wolf Labs observed a sharp increase in malicious VPN logins starting July 15 that compromised fully patched devices with TOTP-based MFA, indicating exploitation beyond credential attacks.
  • Formal warnings from the FBI and CISA urge organizations to bolster network defenses and monitor for VPN logins originating from VPS hosts until a security update is released.