Darktrace, a global leader in cyber security AI, today announced that its Autonomous Response technology, Antigena, successfully took action to stop a cyber-attack exploiting a GitLab vulnerability for the purposes of running crypto-mining malware at a major Italian electronics distributor.

The GitLab vulnerability, which has been well reported, allows attackers to run arbitrary commands, including the ability to delete, modify, and exfiltrate private source code. Research revealed that over 6 months after a patch for the vulnerability was released, over 30,000 publicly accessible GitLab servers remained unpatched and open to exploitation. The attacks have been opportunistic, indiscriminate and automated.