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Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2023-10-21 09:28:37.874
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2023/10/oktas-support-system-breach-exposes.html
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Okta's Support System Breach Exposes Customer Data to Unidentified Threat Actors. Identity services provider Okta on Friday disclosed a new security incident that allowed unidentified threat actors to leverage stolen credentials to access its support case management system. "The threat actor was able to view files uploaded by certain Okta customers as part of recent support cases," David Bradbury, Okta's chief security officer, said. "It should be noted that the Okta support case management system is separate from the production Okta service, which is fully operational and has not been impacted." The company also emphasized that its Auth0/CIC case management system was not impacted by the breach, noting it has directly notified customers who have been affected. However, it said that the customer support system is also used to upload HTTP Archive (HAR) files to replicate end user or administrator errors for troubleshooting purposes. "HAR files can also contain sensitive data, including cookies and session tokens, that malicious actors can use to impersonate valid users," Okta warned. It further said it worked with impacted customers to ensure that the embedded session tokens were revoked to prevent their abuse. Okta did not disclose the scale of the attack, when the incident took place, and when it detected the unauthorized access. As of March 2023, it has more than 17,000 customers and manages around 50 billion users. That said, BeyondTrust and Cloudflare are among the two customers who have confirmed they were targeted in the latest support system attack. "The threat-actor was able to hijack a session token from a support ticket which was created by a Cloudflare employee," Cloudflare said. "Using the token extracted from Okta, the threat-actor accessed Cloudflare systems on October 18." Describing it as a sophisticated attack, the web infrastructure and security company said the threat actor behind the activity compromised two separate Cloudflare employee accounts within the Okta platform. It also said that no customer information or systems were accessed as a result of the event. BeyondTrust said it notified Okta of the breach on October 2, 2023, but the attack on Cloudflare suggests that the adversary had access to their support systems at least until October 18, 2023. The identity management services firm said its Okta administrator had uploaded a HAR file to the system on October 2 to resolve a support issue, and that it detected suspicious activity involving the session cookie within 30 minutes of sharing the file. The attempted attacks against BeyondTrust were ultimately unsuccessful. "BeyondTrust immediately detected and remediated the attack through its own identity tools, Identity Security Insights, resulting in no impact or exposure to BeyondTrust's infrastructure or to its customers," a spokesperson for the company told The Hacker News. The development is the latest in a long list of security mishaps that have singled out Okta over the past few years. The company has become a high-value target for hacking crews for the fact that its single sign-on (SSO) services are used by some of the largest companies in the world.
Daily Brief Summary
Okta, an identity services provider, has reported a security incident in which unidentified threat actors gained access to its support case management system using stolen credentials.
The malefactors could view files uploaded by certain Okta customers as part of recent support cases. Notably, the support case system is separate from Okta's main provision service, which was unaffected.
Okta emphasized that its Auth0/CIC case management system was not impacted, and all affected customers have been notified.
Threat actors could access HTTP Archive (HAR) files containing sensitive data, potentially impersonating valid users, though Okta worked with impacted customers to revoke any embedded session tokens.
Cloudflare and BeyondTrust were among the customers targeted. The intruder accessed Cloudflare systems on October 18th using a session token extracted from Okta. However, Cloudflare asserts that no customer data or systems were accessed in the attack.
BeyondTrust reported the breach to Okta on October 2, 2023, and detected and mediated suspicious activity within 30 minutes, avoiding impacts to its infrastructure or customers.
The scale of the attack, along with when it took place and was detected, was not disclosed by Okta. The company manages around 50 billion users with more than 17,000 customers as of March 2023.