Lorenz Ransomware Penetrates Corporate Networks via Phone Systems

September 13, 2022

Lorenz, a ransomware gang which attacks organizations worldwide with tailored attacks and ransom demands, is now exploiting a critical vulnerability in Mitel MiVoice VOIP devices. The goal is to compromise companies and gain initial access to their corporate networks via their phone systems.

Arctic Wolf Labs security researchers discovered this new method after noticing a significant overlap with Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures associated with ransomware attacks that used the CVE-2022-29499 bug.

The exploited vulnerability is a remote code execution bug affecting the Mitel Service Appliance component of MiVoice Connect.

It allows attackers to obtain a reverse shell and then used Chisel as a tunneling tool to pivot into the environment. Given that Mitel Voice-over-IP (VoIP) products are used by organizations in critical sectors around the world, this is an important addition to the arsenal of the gangs.

Mitel fixed the vulnerability by releasing security patches in early June 2022, after a patch script for affected versions of MiVoice Connect was released in April. Tesorion, a Dutch cybersecurity company, has released a free Lorenz ransomware decryptor that can restore some file types such as Office documents, PDF files, images and videos.

The sources for this piece include an article in BleepingComputer.

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Jim Love

Jim is an author and podcast host with over 40 years in technology.

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