Framework loses customer data in Metabase zero-day attack

Modular laptop maker Framework has warned customers that an attacker exploited a zero-day at analytics provider Metabase to access names, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and login IP addresses, according to an email shared on Reddit. For business customers, the exposed information may also include company names, phone numbers, VAT or Employer Identification Numbers (EINs), and billing email addresses. Framework said order and payment details were not affected. "We are deeply sorry for this breach of information, and are reviewing and improving our methodology for data storage in external database vendors," Framework said, adding that it's notifying regulators where required, though it noted that names, email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses don't cross the mandatory reporting threshold in many regions. Customers are getting the heads-up regardless. Framework didn't immediately reply to The Register's questions, but told TechCrunch that the breach had affected "all customers." The intrusion began with a zero-day vulnerability in Metabase, the business intelligence platform Framework uses to analyze its data. In its own blog post, Metabase said an attacker targeted its cloud service using a previously unknown vulnerability affecting versions 1.58 and later. The company blocked the endpoints used in the attack, patched the bug, and deployed the fix across its cloud service. Framework's account provides a timeline for the break-in. Metabase discovered the attack on August 3 and notified Framework at 9am Pacific Time on August 6, telling the laptop maker that its instance had been vulnerable and that the attacker had successfully gained access to it. Framework said it then rotated credentials for every database connected to its Metabase instance and found no changes to admin access or evidence that systems outside Metabase had been accessed. The company has also brought in a third-party forensics firm to investigate, and cautioned that its findings so far are preliminary. According to Metabase, exploitation can allow an attacker to inject arbitrary SQL against the application's database and potentially gain administrator access. From there, they could alter configuration settings, steal credentials for databases connected to Metabase, query data those connections can access, and export the results. Metabase told anyone running their own instance to patch immediately. If the vulnerable password-reset endpoint was exposed to the internet, admins have more work ahead of them: killing active sessions, checking for rogue API keys or admin accounts, rotating database credentials, and digging through logs for anything suspicious. Framework is reviewing how customer information is made available through external analytics services, but hasn't yet said what changes that review might produce. The breach lands during an already bumpy spell for Framework and its customers. In July, the repairable PC maker warned that the price it was being charged for LPCAMM2 memory used in its Laptop 13 Pro had more than doubled, forcing it to raise memory prices rather than swallow the increase. It also warned that CPU prices were heading upward and could push overall system prices higher in the coming weeks. Being able to replace almost every part of your laptop is handy. Finding your home address exposed through an analytics service is rather less so. (R)