CampaignPublished 3 Oct 2022Updated 24 Oct 2022

OSINT of Exchange 0-day campaign (Atos)

Source CIRCL OSINT Feed

TLP:CLEAR, disclosure is not limited

Description

Impact

For European organizations, especially those in government, administration, and media sectors, this zero-day Exchange campaign poses a significant risk. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive communications, data breaches, and potential disruption of critical services. Financial fraud through spear phishing could result in direct monetary losses and reputational damage. The lack of an available patch increases the window of vulnerability, making proactive detection and mitigation essential. Organizations relying heavily on Microsoft Exchange servers are at risk of confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromises. The campaign's targeting of strategic sectors could also have broader implications for national security and public trust in affected countries. Additionally, the cross-regional nature of the campaign suggests potential for coordinated attacks impacting multiple European countries simultaneously.

Defensive guidance

European organizations should implement advanced email filtering and spear phishing detection mechanisms to reduce the risk of initial compromise. Deploy network monitoring tools capable of detecting anomalous Exchange server activity and potential payload delivery attempts. Employ strict access controls and multi-factor authentication on Exchange servers and related administrative accounts. Conduct regular threat hunting exercises focusing on indicators of compromise related to Exchange vulnerabilities. Isolate and segment Exchange servers from other critical infrastructure to limit lateral movement. Maintain up-to-date backups of Exchange data to enable recovery in case of compromise. Engage with Microsoft and trusted cybersecurity vendors for early warnings and potential workarounds until official patches are released. Educate employees, especially in targeted sectors, about spear phishing risks and social engineering tactics. Finally, collaborate with national cybersecurity agencies to share intelligence and coordinate response efforts.

Indicators of compromise

Domains 21

Used as part of targeted attacks against government sectors

rkn-redirect.net
mail.ticaret.gov.tr-redirect.net
openattachment.net
openingfile.net
northapollon.com
openfile-attachment.com
united-nation-news.com
byannika.com
tr-redirect.net
web-document.com

IP addresses 4

Used as part of targeted attacks against government sectors

206.188.196.77
162.33.179.130
178.20.40.95
168.100.10.30

Email addresses 3

Used as part of targeted attacks against government sectors

vpscontrollervnc@protonmail.com
netxv@bk.ru
account0021@protonmail.com

Datetime 1

2022-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

Link 1

https://atos.net/en/lp/security-dive-blog-vulnerability-0-day-exchange

Text 2

Reports of new 0-day vulnerabilities electrify the Cybersecurity community, especially when they affect commonly used products. Recent news about the successor of the infamous ProxyShell -CVE-2022-41040, CVE-2022-41082 – found in Microsoft Exchange and disclosed by researchers at GTSC Research Lab on 28/09/2022 pushed our TI operations to understand the attackers’ infrastructure better. Our brief analysis is evidence that it is worthwhile to do enrichment of available IOCs to build additional context and try to determine the motivations and origins of threat actors.
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Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Dec 2025, 06:10 UTC

Indicators of compromise

Domains 21

IP addresses 4

Email addresses 3

Datetime 1

Link 1

Text 2

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