Analysis Summary

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added a vulnerability affecting NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect to its list of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of ongoing attempted exploits.

The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2023-43208 (CVSS score: 9.8), pertains to an instance of unauthorized remote code execution that results from an insufficient fix for another significant vulnerability, CVE-2023-37679 (CVSS score: 9.8). The vulnerability's details were initially made public in late October 2023. This January, further technical details and a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit were made public.

Healthcare organizations frequently employ Mirth Connect, an open-source data integration platform that enables standardized data interchange between various systems. The root cause of CVE-2023-43208 is the unsecured way that XML payloads are unmarshalled using the Java XStream library.

The kind of attacks that took advantage of the issue have not been disclosed by CISA, and it is unknown who weaponized them or when attempts at in-the-wild exploitation were noted. Along with this, the tech giant has confirmed that real-world attacks have made use of a recently discovered type confusion problem affecting the Google Chrome browser (CVE-2024-4947) that has been added to the KEV catalog.

To protect their networks from current threats, federal agencies must update to a patched version of the software by June 10, 2024. This version of the program is Mirth Connect version 4.4.1 or later and Chrome version 125.0.6422.60/.61 for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Impact

• Code Execution
• Unauthorized Access
• Operational Disruption

Indicators of Compromise

CVE

• CVE-2023-43208
• CVE-2023-37679

Affected Vendors

Affected Products

• NextGen Mirth Connect 4.3.0
• NextGen Mirth Connect 4.4.0

Remediation

• Upgrade to the latest version of NextGen Mirth Connect, available from the NextGen Website.
• Implement multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to login processes.
• Regularly monitor network activity for any unusual behavior, as this may indicate that a cyberattack is underway.
• Organizations need to stay vigilant and follow best practices for cybersecurity to protect their systems and data from potential threats. This includes regularly updating software and implementing strong access controls and monitoring tools.
• Develop a comprehensive incident response plan to respond effectively in case of a security breach or data leakage.
• Maintain regular backups of critical data and systems to ensure data recovery in case of a security incident.
• Adhere to security best practices, including the principle of least privilege, and ensure that users and applications have only the necessary permissions.
• Establish a robust patch management process to ensure that security patches are evaluated, tested, and applied promptly.
• Conduct security audits and assessments to evaluate the overall security posture of your systems and networks.
• Implement network segmentation to contain and isolate potential threats to limit their impact on critical systems.