EternalBlue
computer security exploit
EternalBlue is a computer exploit software developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). It is based on a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Windows software that allowed attackers to gain access to any number of computers connected to a network. The NSA was aware of this vulnerability but did not disclose it to Microsoft for several years, as it intended to use the exploit as part of its offensive cyber operations. In 2017, the NSA discovered that the software had been stolen by a group of hackers known as The Shadow Brokers. Microsoft was subsequently informed of this and released security updates in March 2017 patching the vulnerability. While this was happening, the hacker group attempted to auction off the software, but did not succeed in finding a buyer. EternalBlue was then released publicly on April 14, 2017.
On May 12, 2017, a computer worm in the form of ransomware, nicknamed WannaCry, used the EternalBlue exploit to attack computers using Windows that had not received the latest system updates removing the vulnerability. On June 27, 2017, the exploit was again used to help carry out the 2017 NotPetya cyberattack on more vulnerable computers.
The exploit was also reported to have been used since March 2016 by the Chinese hacking group Buckeye (APT3), after they likely found and re-purposed the software, as well as reported to have been used as part of the Retefe banking trojan since at least September 5, 2017.
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This entry incorporates text from “EternalBlue” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.