CISA Orders U.S. Agencies to Patch Actively Exploited GeoServer Security Vulnerability

Have you ever put off a software update because you didn't think it was necessary? I know I have. However, this time, skipping this update could mean trouble for you. According to CISA, there is a significant vulnerability in GeoServer, and hackers are actively exploiting it as of this writing, so this is not something you want to ignore.

What is the GeoServer vulnerability?​

GeoServer is a third-party product used by many organizations for sharing online geographic and map data. Cybersecurity professionals discovered a significant vulnerability in older versions of GeoServer that allows attackers to send malicious data to the server.

Using this vulnerability, attackers can:

• Read sensitive files
• Crash servers
• Access internal systems without authorization

The frightening part? Attackers do not need a username or password to exploit the vulnerability.

What CISA did​

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) does not usually step in until the threat becomes significant enough for them to take action. They recently added this GeoServer vulnerability to their list of known exploited vulnerabilities. In other words, attackers are already using this vulnerability in their attacks on you.

They have ordered all Federal Agencies to remediate this issue immediately by setting a deadline to upgrade their systems and stop the attack. When the CISA is as forceful about this kind of issue, it often indicates that they already know that something bad has happened.

Why you should take note of this beyond the Government​

Despite the fact that the CISA is specifically targeting Federal Agencies, you should be concerned if you are using GeoServer. There are thousands of GeoServer systems publicly accessible on the Internet, many of which are still running older versions.

If you are a manager of GeoServer, Ie suggest that you:

• Verify your GeoServer version.
• Upgrade to the latest version.
• Restrict access to your GeoServer system.

The more time you wait, the more likely you will become a victim of additional attacks.

Conclusion​

The GeoServer vulnerability being actively exploited demonstrates how quickly hackers can act. If you perform the simple task of updating your system, you can prevent becoming a victim of an attack. Take a moment now to apply this patch. It will be much easier to deal with an attack on your system than to try to recover from the effects of an attack.