The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has deemed Log4j an “endemic” cyber threat
According to its new Cyber Safety Review Board report on Log4j, “Network defenders have to stay vigilant.” The report notes that “patching fatigue” continues to hinder progress. Trying to patch every discovered vulnerability leaves organizations with far too much to do.
To determine what to action first, defenders can use attack path analysis to prioritize the Log4j exposures that will most likely be exploited by threat actors. Advanced vulnerability prioritization enables organizations to focus on the top 1% of exposures and surgically prioritize risk reduction actions.
3 ways to mitigate exposure
Skybox Research Lab has observed in the field some organizations are still working to locate and mitigate Log4j instances but must balance mitigation into their over-crowded daily schedule.
The initial rush has subsided, and there’s a general uncomfortable feeling that “good enough” isn’t. The web application firewall (WAF) mitigation route is usually the fastest to implement when disabling the solution stacks/libraries is not an option but adds another layer of complexity; yet another tool to manage and output to consider along with so much other data.
“Paralysis by analysis” is a real problem
Organizations that have been the most successful in mitigating Log4j exposure have taken the following actions:
- Leveraging threat intelligence services to streamline the identification of impacted vendors, products, and remediation options.
- Modeling their unique hybrid network and assets to determine where they are actually exposed.
- Immediately minimizing exposure through smart and targeted mitigation with remediation options beyond patching – including applying IPS signatures, firewall rules, security tags, configuration changes, and software updates.
CISA Apache Log4j recommended mitigation measures
According to CISA, “Adversaries are actively exploiting this vulnerability in unforeseeable ways.” Therefore, CISA urges defenders to adopt mitigations that factor in timeliness, ease of execution, and completeness. As outlined in the CISA Log4j mitigation measures, customers are using Skybox Security exposure analysis to confirm web accessibility to critical networks and assets to target mitigation effectively.
See how the Skybox Security Posture Management Platform provides full context and understanding of your entire attack surface to quickly identify, prioritize, and remediate exposed vulnerabilities.
