A Zero-Day Vulnerability Found in Barracuda’s Email Security

What happens when the tools designed to keep organizations safe from network breaches, are the victim of a cyberattack? After all, these tools are just applications, albeit sophisticated pieces of security software, they can run the risk of being exploited much in the same way any other software is. This is exactly what happened to cybersecurity giant Barracuda as it was the victim of a zero-day exploit. Let’s take a look at the hack and how you can protect your business from sharing the same fate.

Vulnerability Found In Barracuda’s Email Gateway Security

The vulnerability that was exploited was in their Email Gateway Security appliance, which according to the patch notes provided by the company has to do with the part of the email security system that scans email attachments. The breach was discovered on May 19th with patches following on May 20th and 21st to mitigate the vulnerability. 

The official statement from the company is as follows:

“Barracuda recently became aware of a security incident impacting our Email Security Gateway appliance (ESG). The incident resulted from a previously unknown vulnerability in our ESG. A security patch to address the vulnerability was applied to all ESG appliances worldwide on Saturday, May 20, 2023. Based on our investigation to date, we've identified unauthorized access affecting a small subset of appliances. As a mitigating measure, all appliances received a second patch on May 21, 2023, addressing the indicators of potential compromise identified to date. We have reached out to the specific customers whose appliances are believed to be impacted at this time. If a customer has not received notice from us via the ESG user interface, we have no reason to believe their environment has been impacted at this time and there are no actions for the customer to take. We thank you for your understanding and support as we work through this issue and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.”

What Is a Zero-Day Exploit?

Zero-day exploits are flaws in systems that are discovered only after they have been targeted by a threat. The severity of the attacks can vary wildly, ranging from discrete and covert hacks that go undetected for some time, to critical hacks that don’t care about being discovered by the user. In the case of the former, zero-day exploits can go undocumented for so long that it becomes an even greater threat and logistical nightmare for security researchers and developers.

What You Can Do to Avoid Situations Like This

As stated above, zero-day vulnerabilities are scary because there is no telling how long they have been exposed. In this case, it doesn’t seem to have been too long, but in their role any vulnerability in Barracuda’s ESG system is extremely concerning. Your business uses a lot of software, and they are typically updated routinely by developers with patches designed to keep vulnerabilities from becoming a problem for their customers. It’s important that you have a strategy to get these patches updated onto your software as they come available. 

The IT professionals at SCW use cutting-edge technology to update our clients’ applications so they don’t have to deal with network breaches from outstanding vulnerabilities. Our patch management platform keeps your business’ software secure and running effectively. If you’d like to learn more about patch management, or the numerous ways our brand of managed services can help your business keep its technology up and running optimally, give us a call today at (509) 534-1530.