PSA: LEMMY.WORLD WAS COMPROMISED

If you are a lemmy.world user, log out and log back in to clear cookies!

Last night, lemmy.world was compromised via an XSS vulnerability with custom emoji. Using this vulnerability, attackers took control of an admin account. The site redirected to mp4 files when logged in, and porn sites when not logged in. The issue was resolved by lemmy.world admins soon after it started, but the attacker regained control of the compromised admin account around ten minutes after resolution, redirecting users to the same mp4 files and sites. Soon after that, the site became inaccessable. The issue is currently resolved, and lemmy dev team has been notified of this vulnerability. sh.itjust.works will not be affected, as we do not have any custom emojis. If you own an instance with custom emojis, it is advised to remove these emojis and clear your cookies.

The following is the original post:

PSA: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ACCESS LEMMY.WORLD, THERE MIGHT BE MALWARE

Lemmy.world member here. I created this account after .world started redirecting me to porn sites and odd mp4 files. We might want to defederate to limit the potential impact. Also, SJW might be affected by the same vulnerabilities as .world, so maybe the admins here should look at that.

Edit: Situation seems to have stabilized. Some site icons aren’t loading, but otherwise everything seems stable. Read Edit2

Edit2: HOLY SHIT ITS BACK Read Edit3

Edit3: lemmy.world is now down as of 10:56 PM CST (USA) Read Edit4

Edit4: lemmy.world is now up, but serving an error as of 11:03 CST (USA) See a screenshot of this error. I also got logged out, hopefully it doesn’t mean they just wiped the databases lol.

Edit5: Edit4 still applies, but I can now access lemmy.world via Memmy on my phone. Wefwef (Voyager now) does not work, however. Timestamp: 11:34 PM CST (USA)

Edit6: lemmy.world restored. Compromised admin account said something in a weird post. I’m going to bed now, my brain is play-dough rn. Will update you guys tomorrow morning.

malloc,

Single 🔧 vs Federated ActivityPub instance, who wins

😂😂

Side note: glad the lemmy devs and mods able to figure it out and all while doing this part time. Great community yall. Hope to contribute my time as well.

donut4ever,

I still can’t log into it.

Pacers31Colts18,

Same for me. Would like to get 2FA turned on.

donut4ever,

I doubt 2FA would’ve helped in this situation since those assholes had access to the admin accounts and there server. I don’t know. Good thing I’m signed up to another instance.

TheDude,

The vulnerability appeared to be from a custom emoji that they were running. SJW does not use any custom emoji so we should not be affected. In either case lemmy.world has now been restored and is back online. I’ll keep an extra eye on this instance until the patch gets released shortly.

SimplePhysics,

Nice! Yeah, seems to be that lemmy.world logo emoji that stole your cookies. There were people compromised accounts posting them everywhere on .world.

darkstar,

Thanks for the update, we all appreciate it!

merc,

Who would have thought an emoji could be a source of a vulnerability.

Ziggurat,

What’s the impact for other instance users ?

None ? lemmy.world was down during the night and is fixed this morning that’s it ?

is there a risk that interaction with lemmy.world are leaked including potential “personal data” ?

is there a risk that smarter hackers could use the breach to access the DB behind some lemmy instances without anybody noticing it ?

SimplePhysics,

Lemmy.world was defaced last night. As far as I know, there is no DB breach. An XSS vulnerability was abused to steal the cookies of an admin account.

AndreTelevise,
AndreTelevise avatar

And I have nowhere to go but Kbin because Beehaw is unstable and I don't want to open up a fourth account. Accumulating fediverse accounts should be the last thing you do

BitingChaos,
BitingChaos avatar

Well, on the bright side of things, I'm able to find out about my main server going down from the dozens of other active instances.

wetnoodle,

lemmy.blahaj.zone just got hit by it too

SimplePhysics,

They seem to be down at the moment. I seriously hope SJW is not affected.

Arotrios,
Arotrios avatar

Confirmed - fucked on my end too. Looks like the 18.1 update had some sort of major vulnerability.

user_already_exists,

Definitely need to bleach my eyes after that ‘attack’… saw it unfold and unfortunately saw too much.

Early_To_Risa,

Talk about feeling like the old internet. I was wondering how I would get tricked into seeing something gross by some shock-humor edgelord.

Time to just grab a pint and wait this out. Lol

humanreader,

Vietnam flashbacks of shock sites.

Derproid,

Fuck that zombie.

Dirk_Darkly,

This is the unregulated chaos I’ve been missing from my internet. Feels like home.

ext23,

Suddenly got kicked off the server and stuff. Was a panicky moment cause I’m on the work computer…is there any indication that malware etc. was involved?

SimplePhysics,

I don’t know. I’m running the latest version of Firefox, which does not have any publicly known severe vulnerabilities. I also happen to be running the latest version of macOS, and most malware target Windows. I have not seen any suspicious activity, so I think I’m good. I did harden my OS and browser a bit when I set things up, so that might have made a difference. I would run a scan with Malwarebytes if I were you. Good luck. Hopefully its just a troll.

ChronicEd,

About 10:38 pm CST I had just opened it on my browser and it flashed a "Reddit has taken over this site for copyright infringement". And the icon at the top was changed for Israel with the words about raping a child on it. Definitely something wonky going on, but I haven't seen any redirects to anything off site. Definitely not going back from my computer (sounds like the app is safe, but only will check for an update).

SimplePhysics,

Yeah, I get that too, minus the Reddit part. However, during the ten minute span where the attack was resolved (then restarted), a mod/admin account reported that it was caused by a compromised admin account, so not Reddit taking over the site via copyright law. They removed the account, but the issue seems to be back now.

ChronicEd,

Yeah! Considering being repeatedly attempted (and succeeding)...I'm guessing it may take a little while to deal with.

Secret300,

damn, any idea on how?

SimplePhysics,

A .world mod/admin mentioned a compromised admin account. They removed the account, but the issue returned soon after I made the first edit to the post.

Chozo,
Chozo avatar

An admin had their account compromised. The other admins have since fixed the account and everything should be operational again.

EDIT: Well the site's still down while they clean up the mess that was left behind. But I think the root problem is fixed now. Should be just a matter of time before they flip the switch again.

randon31415,

Still getting the redirect at 3:30 AM UTC. Also, first post from my kbin backup.

567PrimeMover,
567PrimeMover avatar

Yup, I got "this website has been seized by reddit for copyright infringment". Very mature

minnieo,
minnieo avatar

welcome to kbin, sorry to hear about the happenings at your homebase

Sami, (edited )
@Sami@lemmy.zip avatar

I’m not seeing anything different with lemmy.world on my end. Can anyone else confirm what OP is seeing?

Edit: Reading that it was resolved in another thread.

Second edit: Nope, not resolved

SimplePhysics, (edited )

Visited it again, seems restored. I’ll update the post. See original post

Sami, (edited )
@Sami@lemmy.zip avatar

Yup I saw elsewhere that the compromised admin account was removed.

SimplePhysics, (edited )

Edited again, site has been re- compromised. See original post

Roggie,

Currently getting redirected when visiting lemme.world

Givesomefucks,

What impact?

As long as you dont go on lemmy.world, it’s not going to redirect you to all the stupid websites.

And I doubt whatever they’re posting (if they’re posting anything) is getting upvoted, so you won’t see it anywhere else.

And where are you getting “malware” from?

People are acting like it’s some crazy hack, and not the 4chan rejects from exploding heads finally guessing an admins password a week after they got defederated. And after all that time chasing the mailman, they had no idea what to do when they guessed it

But this does highlight an issue with instances. I doubt the handful of admins know each other. Like, maybe an email, but for the most part if shit like this happens during “off hours” it might be a while before the top admin even knows there’s an issue

can,

There’s an admin matrix chat

Givesomefucks,

And how many people answer that on Sunday night?

What I’m getting at is a major website has at least a skeleton staff that can do something, even if that’s just pulling the plug.

I don’t even reply to most work texts after hours unless it’s someone saying they have to use sick leave. I don’t expect people hosting Lemmy as a hobby to be on call 24/7.

But I hope afterwards they’re transparent about what happened and how they’re going to stop it from happening again. If not, it’s easy to hop instances

can,

There’s other admins working on it now. It’s 5am where the owner is.

hemmes,

Instance name checks out

SimplePhysics,

Did you read my post? -I said there might be malware. -I said not to visit lemmy.world -The entire site may be fucking compromised. If you have control the servers, you can change database values to make your post any amount of upvotes you want.

hemmes,

Now let’s see if this goes the way VLemmy did this weekend.

ProvokedGamer,
@ProvokedGamer@lemmy.ca avatar

Sorry I’m out of the loop. What happened to VLemmy?

hemmes,

Out of nowhere the instance went down. I believe it was late Saturday morning or so? It was my main instance and nobody has heard from the admin. He was always very enthusiastic and transparent, actively looking for more admins.

A day or so before it went down, he made a post about having to defederate with another instance due to current violation laws in his server’s country of origin. VLemmy is known for not banning many (if any) instances in favor of moderation, so they take defederation very seriously.

It looks like he got caught up with some bad content and had to shutdown. Not sure how long but all his tip and donation links have been closed including I believe his GitHub.

PixelPassport,
PixelPassport avatar

The donation links closing and silence from the admin definitely makes me think some kind of government shutdown.

ProvokedGamer,
@ProvokedGamer@lemmy.ca avatar

Oh ok. Dang it’s been a helluva few days, huh?

hemmes,

That would be a fair statement

Jacksachatter,

Lemmy world is down as of now

steakmeoutt,

That’s exactly what happened. And anyone complaining about vote rigging is probably from exploding-heads too.

carbon_based,
@carbon_based@sh.itjust.works avatar

Possible but on what evidence would one make such a claim?

wetnoodle,

It’s taking out multiple instances, lemmy.blahaj.zone just went down too

bestdude,

Could I get hacked or compromised or something just by lurking the website? I didn't notice the Israel stuff until a bit late
Password was randomly generated like 5f.4_0@3j&j so no common passwords

sanpedropeddler,

sh.itjust.works/post/923025 The comments in this post explain it better than I can, but this seems like a much bigger issue than an admin account being compromised.

Mic_Check_One_Two,

Seems like there’s an active cookie-scraping attack going on. Lots of compromised accounts are going around different instances posting links with drive-by JavaScript. The JS tries to grab your current login token, which would give hackers access to your current login session.

They don’t need your password because they’re just grabbing that cookie that your browser gets when you check the “Keep me logged in” checkbox on login. That’s what allows you to verify your account across multiple sessions, and it allows them to do the exact same thing. They can simply send that authorized token, and “log in” as you. This would (likely) work across instances, because if they grab your cookie then it will give them access to whatever instance your account is logged in on.

So Lemmy.world will likely need to be completely defederated (to stop any compromised accounts from posting on other instances) and your specific instance will likely need to deauthorize all current login tokens (which will forcibly log everyone on your instance out) to stop any local accounts that got hit.

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