SmarterTools Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (SMA1767210884)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the SmarterTools breach identified under incident ID SMA1767210884.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of SmarterTools's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smartertools, the number of followers: 1159, the industry type: Software Development and the number of employees: 23 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 751 and after the incident was 748 with a difference of -3 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on SmarterTools and their customers.

SmarterMail (SmarterTools) recently reported "SmarterMail Patches Maximum-Severity RCE Flaw (CVE-2025-52691)", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

SmarterMail patched CVE-2025-52691, a maximum-severity RCE flaw allowing unauthenticated arbitrary file uploads.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting SmarterMail email servers, and exposing Sensitive data.

In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Patch released (build 9413), and began remediation that includes Upgrade to build 9413, and stakeholders are being briefed through Security advisory published by Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).

The case underscores how Vulnerability patched; no confirmed in-the-wild abuse, and recommending next steps like Admins are advised to upgrade to build 9413 as soon as possible to mitigate the vulnerability, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Upgrade to build 9413 to mitigate the vulnerability.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including unauthenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files, and smarterMail enterprise email server software. Under the Execution tactic, the analysis identified Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability, and deploy web shells, malware, or malicious scripts. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Server Software Component: Web Shell (T1505.003) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including deploy web shells, and maintain persistent access. Under the Privilege Escalation tactic, the analysis identified Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including full system compromise, and arbitrary files to any location on the server. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Obfuscated Files or Information (T1027) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including malicious scripts, and web shells. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files (T1552.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including steal sensitive data, and full system compromise. Under the Lateral Movement tactic, the analysis identified Exploitation of Remote Services (T1210) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating launchpad for deeper network infiltration. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (75%), with evidence including steal sensitive data, and data exfiltration such as Possible. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Resource Hijacking (T1496) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating hijacked servers could be repurposed for phishing campaigns, spam distribution and Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating service disruption. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.