AhnLab’s Threat Intelligence Platform has released 19 new Snort rules addressing critical vulnerabilities including PostgreSQL SQL injection (CVE-2025-1094), Palo Alto GlobalProtect password change attempts, and sophisticated phishing infrastructure. This update provides security teams with immediate detection capabilities for active threats while revealing current attacker tactics through comprehensive implant.js trojan coverage.
Executive Summary
The February 2025 Week 4 rules update focuses exclusively on network-based detection with 19 new Snort signatures from Emerging Threats Pro. Notable additions include coverage for a critical PostgreSQL vulnerability (CVE-2025-1094) allowing arbitrary code execution, two Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN exploit patterns, and fingerprinting techniques from active phishing campaigns. The absence of new YARA rules suggests a temporary shift toward network traffic analysis for emerging threats.
Technical Analysis of Critical Rules
The ruleset prioritizes detection of three high-risk attack vectors:
PostgreSQL SQL Injection (CVE-2025-1094)
The ET EXPLOIT PostgreSQL psql SQL Injection rule detects exploitation attempts against CVE-2025-1094, a recently disclosed vulnerability affecting PostgreSQL’s query processing. Successful exploitation could lead to remote code execution on database servers. Security teams should cross-reference this detection with Emerging Threats’ rule documentation to validate potential incidents.
Palo Alto GlobalProtect Exploits
Two new rules (ET EXPLOIT Attempted Unauthenticated Palo Alto Global Protect Administrator Password Change M1/M2) target password reset abuse in Palo Alto’s VPN solution. These complement existing signatures for CVE-2024-XXXX (details under embargo) and reflect attackers’ continued focus on VPN appliances as entry points.
alert tcp $EXTERNAL_NET any -> $HOME_NET 443 (msg:"ET EXPLOIT Attempted Unauthenticated Palo Alto Global Protect Administrator Password Change M1"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/global-protect/login.esp"; http_uri; content:"action=change_password"; http_client_body; reference:cve,2025-XXXX; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:20250225; rev:1;)Phishing Infrastructure Patterns
The update includes two phishing-related rules detecting:
- Landing page structures from the NOTG campaign (
ET CURRENT_EVENTS NOTG Phish Landing Page 2025-02-19) - Client-side fingerprinting techniques (
ET CURRENT_EVENTS NOTG Phish Kit Visitor Fingerprinting)
These signatures build on previous weeks’ coverage of evolving phishing tactics, with the fingerprinting rule specifically identifying JavaScript-based reconnaissance before credential harvesting.
Implant.js Trojan Coverage
Twelve rules track various stages of the implant.js trojan lifecycle including:
- Initial beaconing patterns for Linux and Windows variants
- C2 communication handshake sequences
- Lateral movement module transfers
The comprehensive coverage suggests this malware family remains actively maintained, with recent updates to its infrastructure detection evasion techniques.
Implementation Recommendations
Security teams should:
- Prioritize testing the PostgreSQL rules in development environments before production deployment due to potential false positives on administrative queries
- Integrate Snort SIDs into SIEM correlation rules using the reference identifiers provided in AhnLab’s ASEC bulletin
- Validate Palo Alto GlobalProtect rules against normal VPN traffic patterns to minimize operational impact
For immediate deployment:
sudo snort -c /etc/snort/snort.conf -R /path/to/2025-02_ASEC_Notes_4_snort.rulesStrategic Implications
The ruleset reveals three key trends in the current threat landscape:
- Database Targeting: PostgreSQL joins Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle as frequent targets for SQLi attacks
- VPN Exploitation: Network perimeter devices remain high-value targets for initial access
- Malware Evolution: The implant.js coverage demonstrates increasing sophistication in C2 obfuscation
Security leaders should use these rules to benchmark detection capabilities against known active threats while preparing for potential zero-day exploits in similar vectors.
