Hackers abused the BillQuick Web Suite billing software to compromise the network of an engineering company in the United States and deploy ransomware, threat detection firm Huntress reports.
The attack exploited a critical vulnerability in BQE Software’s BillQuick Web Suite versions 2018 through 2021, before 22.0.9.1. Tracked as CVE-2021-42258, the issue is described as an SQL injection bug that could be exploited for unauthenticated remote code execution.
While attempting to recreate the attack in their lab, Huntress’ security researchers identified multiple SQL injection points. Without authentication, they were able to remotely leak sensitive employee information from the billing software’s databases.
Next, they also discovered that BillQuick Web Suite would create during installation a built-in sa account that provides full access to the backend database server, even if the software was set up with specific restrictions in place.
Using crafted SQL queries, an attacker could abuse the account to achieve arbitrary code execution.
The investigation into this attack led Huntress to the discovery of eight other vulnerabilities in BQE Software’s BillQuick and Core offerings, but the security firm refrained from sharing details on these security errors as of now.
“This incident highlights a repeating pattern plaguing SMB software: well-established vendors are doing very little to proactively secure their applications and subject their unwitting customers to significant liability when sensitive data is inevitably leaked and/or ransomed,” Huntress says.
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