As per sources, the Russia-aligned threat actor RomCom has been implicated in exploiting two critical zero-day vulnerabilities to deliver its backdoor malware. These attacks targeted flaws in Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Windows, allowing RomCom to execute arbitrary code on victim systems with no user interaction required. The exploited vulnerabilities include CVE-2024-9680, a use-after-free flaw in Firefox's Animation component (CVSS 9.8), patched by Mozilla in October 2024, and CVE-2024-49039, a privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows Task Scheduler (CVSS 8.8), patched by Microsoft in November 2024. These flaws enabled attackers to bypass security barriers and install the RomCom Remote Access Trojan (RAT). ESET uncovered the attack chain, which begins with victims visiting a fake website, economistjournal[.]cloud, that redirects them to a malicious server, redjournal[.]cloud. Visiting this site using a vulnerable version of Firefox triggers the execution of shellcode. This shellcode bypasses the browser’s sandbox using an embedded library, "PocLowIL," and exploits the Windows Task Scheduler vulnerability to escalate privileges. The end result is the installation of RomCom RAT, capable of executing commands and downloading additional payloads. Furthermore, most victims appear to be located in Europe and North America, according to ESET telemetry. Interestingly, Google’s Threat Analysis Group independently reported CVE-2024-49039 to Microsoft, suggesting that multiple threat actors may have exploited this vulnerability. This is the second instance of RomCom abusing a zero-day vulnerability, following its exploitation of CVE-2023-36884 in June 2023. The chaining of two zero-day exploits underscores RomCom’s sophistication and determination to develop stealthy and effective attack methods.
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