Hacker hacked the servers of General Bytes bitcoin ATMs

The attack compromised user passwords and API keys

20.03.2023 - 08:00

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2 min

What’s new? General Bytes, a bitcoin ATM manufacturer, reported the highest-risk incident, which occurred on March 17 and 18. By remotely uploading his own java application through the master service interface, the attacker managed to gain access to terminals and hack into GENERAL BYTES Cloud service as well as offline servers of other operators.

General Bytes’ official announcement

How did the attack happen? The attacker identified a vulnerability in the interface of the service used by crypto ATMs to upload videos to the server. The attacker scanned the Digital Ocean cloud hosting IP addresses and found running CAS services on ports 7741. Using this vulnerability, the hacker uploaded his own application directly to the server used by the admin interface. The application server was configured by default to run applications in the deployment folder. As a result of the hack, the hacker gained the following capabilities:

Database access;
Reading and decrypting API keys used to access funds in hot wallets and exchanges;
Sending funds from hot wallets;
Downloading usernames and password hashes;
Disabling two-factor authentication;
Accessing terminal event logs, including when customers scanned a private key with a crypto ATM.

To protect against the threats, General Bytes announced it was shutting down the cloud service and warned operators to install their own standalone server. In addition, due to the compromise of all users’ passwords, as well as API keys to exchanges and hot wallets, operators need to revoke them and generate new keys and passwords.

Last August, General Bytes also reportedthe compromise of its servers. Then hackers managed to change the system settings so that cryptocurrency came directly to their wallets. And in October, the FBI notedan increase in the use of cryptocurrencies by scammers. Individual losses of investors ranged from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.

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