Fail-Safe Friday – Executive Action Brief - 08/15/25

... If identity and RMM are soft, your whole enterprise is soft.

Author

J.W. Croley
August 15, 2025

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Before you log off, here’s your final checkpoint:
Two items demand attention before the weekend: Microsoft patched a Windows Kerberos zero‑day that can enable domain escalation in specific AD configurations, and CISA just added two N‑able N‑central flaws to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog following active exploitation…

… If identity and RMM are soft, your whole enterprise is soft.

📊 Executive Threat Heatmap 📊

Top Observations This Week:

Credential theft is spiking: new datasets show a ~160% surge this year, and credential misuse now accounts for roughly one‑in‑five breaches—prolonged dwell because secrets take ~3 months to remediate.

Automation is relentless: active reconnaissance is up ~16.7% YoY, peaking around 36,000 scans/second—expect constant probing of identity, RDP, SIP, and OT/IoT services.

Ransomware market churn ≠ relief: despite law‑enforcement disruption, the number of distinct crews remains high and new brands appear rapidly.

OT disruptions still sting: manufacturing/industrial environments continue to absorb outsized downtime and recovery windows when ransomware hits.

🚨 Late-Breaking Threats 🚨

1) Windows Kerberos EoP (CVE-2025-53779) – High

What changed this week: Microsoft fixed CVE-2025-53770 on Aug 12; public write‑ups explain how specific permissioned paths (e.g., gMSA‑related attributes) can be abused to escalate to domain admin in certain AD setups. Exploit requires existing elevated rights but turns footholds into a full takeover.

  • Executive read‑through: Treat as identity blast‑radius reduction—don’t let a medium‑path bug become a Monday‑morning forest compromise.

2) N‑able N‑central (RMM) exploited in the wild - High 

What changed this week: CISA added two N‑central flaws to KEV after confirmed exploitation: CVE‑2025‑8875 (insecure deserialization) and CVE‑2025‑8876 (command injection). Vendor guidance points to version 2025.3.1. RMM exposure multiplies impact across every managed client.

  • Executive read‑through: If your MSP channel is compromised, attackers inherit your fleet.

  • Immediate actions (N‑central): Patch/verify to 2025.3.1; rotate credentials/tokens; review job/run histories and script repositories for tampering; require MSP attestations of monitoring and containment.

3) Ransomware ecosystem update – Persistent

What changed this week: DOJ/Homeland Security seized BlackSuit infrastructure and funds. Crews typically rebrand and resume; early intel notes rapid regrouping by related operators.

  • Executive read‑through: Expect short‑term scatter, not safety; watch for fresh branding plus initial access via identity/RMM.

    🛠️ Pattern & TTP Summary 🛠️

Stage

Vector

What we’re seeing

Initial access

Identity & RMM

Permissioned abuse in Kerberos paths; RMM job/script abuse for mass client reach.

Lateral/persist

Token & service abuse

Token replay, over‑scoped service principals, scheduled tasks in RMM/EDR consoles.

Impact

Data theft → extortion

Exfiltration before encryption; short dwell with automation; public leaks for leverage.

✅ Fail-Safe Checklist (before COB) ✅

🔄 Patch & Hardening

Critical Updates: Apply the Aug 12 Microsoft Kerberos patch to prevent ticket forgery abuse. Upgrade N-central RMM to v2025.3.1 to close active exploitation paths.

Identity Controls: Audit and restrict Active Directory permissions on gMSA-linked attributes to prevent lateral movement.

Threat Hunting:

  • Flag anomalous Kerberos TGT/TGS request patterns.

  • Review RMM job history for unauthorized script deployments.

  • Investigate abnormal SaaS/API data pulls.

Ops Safeguards: Impose a freeze on all identity and RMM changes through Monday. Confirm DC and RMM logs are streaming to SIEM with weekend alerting in place.

Third-Party Attestations: Require MSPs to confirm weekend patching, monitoring, and incident escalation commitments.

🧑‍💻 People & Monitoring

  • Sudden creation or modification of .aspx files in SharePoint web directories.

  • Unexpected w3wp.exe child processes.

  • Large archive extractions from SharePoint content databases.

  • Edge device authentication/session anomalies (especially post-CVE patching).

📋 Process

  • Enforce emergency-only change approvals for SharePoint and ADC mitigations — pre-approved by the CISO.

  • Validate that incident response playbooks for webshell triage, domain pivot hunting, and Kerberos ticket abuse are current and accessible.

🤝 Partners

  • Confirm MSP/MSSP actively monitoring SharePoint ULS/IIS logs, edge device telemetry, and identity system logs.

  • Require sub-15-minute escalation if IOC thresholds are met.

  • Ensure vendor SOC contacts are reachable throughout the weekend with backup escalation paths.

📌 Key Leadership Takeaways 📌

Identity + RMM are this week’s highest‑leverage risk reducers—small fixes, huge blast‑radius cuts.

Automation and credential theft mean you’re being probed continuously; assume secrets are in play.

Ransomware isn’t paused—post‑takedown pivots are standard; expect rebrands and new initial‑access angles.

📋 Immediate Leadership Checklist 📋

🔄 Attest Kerberos patch + AD permission hygiene across all domains.

📊 Obtain MSP/N‑central status (version, monitoring, incident channel) before close of business.

💼 Validate backup & recovery paths independent of domain privileges.

🔹 Set Monday tabletop: “Permissioned Kerberos abuse → RMM pivot → extortion.”

Final Thought: Quiet weekends aren’t luck. They’re the product of identity/RMM discipline plus continuous detection.

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