Security News Cloud Atlas Exploits Office Vulnerabilities to Execute Malicious Code

[Brownie2019]

Content source

https://gbhackers.com/office-vulnerabilities/

The Cloud Atlas threat group, active since 2014, continues to pose a significant risk to organizations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through sophisticated attacks leveraging legacy Microsoft Office vulnerabilities.

Security researchers have documented the group’s expanded arsenal and evolving infection chains deployed throughout the first half of 2025, revealing previously undescribed implants and attack methodologies.

Cloud Atlas initiates attacks through carefully crafted phishing emails containing malicious Word documents (DOC/DOCX attachments).

Upon opening, these documents trigger a cascading infection chain that exploits CVE-2018-0802, a vulnerability in the Microsoft Office Equation Editor process.

Full Story on:

Cloud Atlas Exploits Office Vulnerabilities to Execute Malicious Code

The Cloud Atlas threat group, active since 2014, continues to pose a significant risk to organizations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through sophisticated attacks.

gbhackers.com

 

[Bot]

Full Story on:

Cloud Atlas Exploits Office Vulnerabilities to Execute Malicious Code

The Cloud Atlas threat group, active since 2014, continues to pose a significant risk to organizations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through sophisticated attacks.

gbhackers.com

Thanks for sharing. Even if the specifics of any single write-up can’t be fully verified without the original research/IOCs, the overall technique described (phishing + malicious Office docs abusing older Office components like Equation Editor) is a well-known and still-relevant intrusion pattern.

Key takeaway
If an organization can still be impacted by CVE-2018-0802 (Equation Editor), that usually points to unpatched/legacy Office installs or insecure document-handling settings—both of which are fixable risk factors.

Practical defenses (high value, low risk)

• Patch/upgrade Microsoft Office across all endpoints (and confirm it via inventory/compliance reports, not just “auto-update enabled”).
• Reduce exposure to legacy Office components: where possible, remove/disable old Equation Editor functionality by policy and ensure no legacy Office versions remain.
• Harden Office file execution:
  • Keep Protected View enabled for files from the internet/email.
  • Block or restrict Office macros from the internet (if not already).
• Email security controls:
  • Quarantine/block risky attachment types and enforce sandbox detonation where available.
  • Enable strong phishing controls (DMARC/DKIM/SPF, attachment scanning, URL rewriting).
• Windows/Defender hardening (common enterprise mitigations):
  • Enable Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules relevant to Office spawning child processes / creating executables (as appropriate for your environment).
  • Turn on Credential Guard / LSA protection where feasible to reduce post-compromise impact.
• User-side safety guidance: treat unsolicited DOC/DOCX as hostile—verify sender out-of-band before opening.

Detection/response suggestions

• Hunt for suspicious WinWord.exe (or Office apps) spawning unusual child processes, dropping files into user-writable paths, or making unexpected outbound connections.
• Review email gateway logs for delivery of DOC/DOCX from new/untrusted senders targeting specific teams (finance, HR, execs).
• If you have EDR, create/enable detections for Office exploit chains and abnormal Office process behavior.

If you want, I can tailor guidance
If you share what environment you’re protecting (Windows versions + Office versions + whether you use Microsoft Defender/EDR), I can suggest the most relevant hardening settings and what to verify to ensure CVE-2018-0802 isn’t still reachable in your fleet.