• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
Compliance, IT Infrastructure, Network Security, News

Older, Unpatched Vulnerabilities Are Still Wreaking Havoc

Older vulnerabilities that remain unpatched are still the primary vehicle for cyberattacks, Tenable report finds.

February 28, 2023 Zachary Comeau Leave a Comment

Log4j, Older Vulnerabilities, CISA KEV
stock.adobe.com/Andreas Prott

Older vulnerabilities for which patches have already been made available by the vendor are still the primary vehicle for cyberattacks, suggesting that organizations are still behind in practicing good cyber hygiene, according to new data from Tenable.

The Columbia, M.D.-based provider of vulnerability management software finds in its 2022 Threat Landscape Report that the number one group of most frequently exploited vulnerabilities are a large pool of known vulnerabilities, including some that date back to 2017. Organizations repeatedly failed to apply the vendor’s patches for these bugs, resulting in increasing attacks throughout last year.

According to Tenable, the top exploited vulnerabilities within this group included several older high-severity flaws in Microsoft Exchange, Zoho ManageEngine products and VPN solutions from Fortinet, Citrix and Pulse Secure.

Of course, Log4Shell, the critical remote code execution bug in Java logger Log4j discovered in December 2021, was among the most frequently exploited vulnerabilities in 2022, according to Tenable. Others included Follina, a remote code execution bug in the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool; an Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center vulnerability; and ProxyShell, a chain of three vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server.

In all of those cases, the vulnerabilities, mitigations and patches were highly publicized, and organizations had the ability to fix these issues immediately. In addition, four of the first five zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in the wild in 2022 were disclosed to the public on the same day the vendor released patches and mitigations, according to Tenable.

Bob Huber, chief security officer and head of research at Tenable, says in a statement that older, long-known vulnerabilities cause more destruction than new ones.

“Cyberattackers repeatedly find success exploiting these overlooked vulnerabilities to obtain access to sensitive information,” Huber says. “Numbers like these conclusively demonstrate that reactive post-event cybersecurity measures aren’t effective at mitigating risk. The only way to turn the tide is to shift to preventive security and exposure management.”

According to the report, older vulnerabilities in Fortinet FortiOS and Zoho ManageEngine were spotted in changed attacks with Log4Shell and various Exchange Server bugs. Tenable says it has been highlighting some of these bugs “for years,” and they are all listed in CISA’s catalog of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities.

The 2017 vulnerability listed in Tenable’s report is a memory corruption bug in Microsoft Office Equation Editor that has a CVSSv3 score of 7.8. Meanwhile, the report lists three 20178 bugs, a 3030 bug and three 2021 bugs as among the most actively exploited in 2022.

Read Tenable’s report for more information.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Tagged With: Patch management, Tenable, Vulnerabilities

Related Content:

  • Cloud, SASE, Aryaka How the Cloud is Redefining Media Production and…
  • Singlewire Software mass notification interview Singlewire Software on Mass Notification Solutions
  • URI catchbox 1 Catchbox Plus: The Mic Solution That Finally Gave…
  • Engaging virtual meeting with diverse participants discussing creative ideas in a bright office space during daylight hours Diversified Survey: Workplace AV Tech is Falling Short,…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Practical Design Guide for Office SpacesPractical Design Guide for Office Spaces

    Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-face time with co-workers. When designing the office spaces — and meeting spaces in particular — enabling that connection between co-workers is crucial. But introducing the right collaboration technology in meeting spaces can […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.