Cisco says hackers have been exploiting a critical bug to break into big customer networks since 2023

Cisco has issued a stern warning about a significant vulnerability in one of its widely-used networking products that has been under exploitation for at least three years. This flaw, rated at the highest severity score of 10.0, poses a serious risk to large enterprises and government agencies utilizing its Catalyst SD-WAN products. The flaw allows cybercriminals to remotely access networks, providing them with elevated permissions to these crucial devices. Once infiltrated, hackers can maintain covert access to the victim's network, enabling them to monitor activities or siphon off sensitive data over extended periods. Cisco's researchers have traced exploitation activities back to 2023, with concerns particularly surrounding organizations classified as critical infrastructure, which could encompass essential services like power and water supply, as well as transportation systems. Following this discovery, several governments, including those of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have issued alerts about the global targeting of organizations by malicious actors. In a decisive move, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) mandated that all civilian federal agencies must update their systems by the end of the week, flagging the situation as an imminent threat. This directive comes amid a partial government shutdown that has left the federal cybersecurity agency operating at a limited capacity, yet they are still aware of ongoing exploits. While neither Cisco nor governmental agencies have pinpointed a specific threat group or nation responsible for these attacks, they have categorized a related cluster of activity under the identifier UAT-8616. In a prior warning issued in December, Cisco had highlighted a similar 10.0 vulnerability found in its Async software, which supports numerous products and was also being exploited to infiltrate customer networks.