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Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2025-09-26 09:25:40.492

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/09/fortra-goanywhere-cvss-10-flaw.html

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Fortra GoAnywhere CVSS 10 Flaw Exploited as 0-Day a Week Before Public Disclosure. Cybersecurity company watchTowr Labs has disclosed that it has "credible evidence" of active exploitation of the recently disclosed security flaw in Fortra GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) software as early as September 10, 2025, a whole week before it was publicly disclosed. "This is not 'just' a CVSS 10.0 flaw in a solution long favored by APT groups and ransomware operators – it is a vulnerability that has been actively exploited in the wild since at least September 10, 2025," Benjamin Harris, CEO and Founder of watchTowr, told The Hacker News. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2025-10035, which has been described as a deserialization vulnerability in the License Servlet that could result in command injection without authentication. Fortra GoAnywhere version 7.8.4, or the Sustain Release 7.6.3, was released by Fortra last week to remediate the problem. According to an analysis released by watchTowr earlier this week, the vulnerability has to do with the fact that it's possible to send a crafted HTTP GET request to the "/goanywhere/license/Unlicensed.xhtml/" endpoint to directly interact with the License Servlet ("com.linoma.ga.ui.admin.servlet.LicenseResponseServlet") that's exposed at "/goanywhere/lic/accept/<GUID>" using the GUID embedded in the response to the earlier sent request. Armed with this authentication bypass, an attacker can take advantage of inadequate deserialization protections in the License Servlet to result in command injection. That said, exactly how this occurs is something of a mystery, researchers Sonny Macdonald and Piotr Bazydlo noted. Cybersecurity vendor Rapid7, which also released its findings into CVE-2025-10035, said it's not a single deserialization vulnerability, but rather a chain of three separate issues - In a subsequent report published Thursday, watchTowr said it received evidence of exploitation efforts, including a stack trace that enables the creation of a backdoor account. The sequence of the activity is as follows - The cybersecurity company also said the threat actor activity originated from the IP address 155.2.190[.]197, which, according to VirusTotal, has been flagged for conducting brute-force attacks targeting Fortinet FortiGate SSL VPN appliances. Given signs of in-the-wild exploitation, it's imperative that users move quickly to apply the fixes, if not already. The Hacker News has reached out to Fortra for comment, and we will update the story if we hear back.

Daily Brief Summary

VULNERABILITIES // Fortra GoAnywhere Exploited by Attackers Before Public Disclosure

Cybersecurity firm watchTowr Labs reported active exploitation of a critical flaw in Fortra GoAnywhere MFT software a week before its public disclosure.

The vulnerability, CVE-2025-10035, involves a deserialization issue in the License Servlet, allowing command injection without authentication.

Attackers can exploit this flaw via a crafted HTTP GET request, leveraging inadequate deserialization protections to gain unauthorized access.

Fortra released updated software versions 7.8.4 and Sustain Release 7.6.3 to address the vulnerability following its discovery.

Evidence of exploitation includes activity from IP address 155.2.190[.]197, previously linked to brute-force attacks on Fortinet FortiGate SSL VPNs.

Rapid7's analysis suggests the vulnerability comprises a chain of three separate issues, complicating the remediation process.

Organizations using GoAnywhere are urged to apply patches immediately to mitigate potential security risks.