Combining a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability with a TinyURL redirect, hackers successfully broke into the infrastructure for the open-source Apache Foundation in what is being described as a "direct, targeted attack."
The hackers hit the server hosting the software that Apache.org uses to it to track issues and requests and stole passwords from all users. The software was hosted on brutus.apache.org, a machine running Ubuntu Linux 8.04 LTS, the group said.

The passwords were encrypted on the compromised servers (SHA-512 hash) but Apache said the risk to simple passwords based on dictionary words "is quite high" and urged users to immediately rotate their passwords. "In addition, if you logged into the Apache JIRA instance between April 6th and April 9th, you should consider the password as compromised, because the attackers changed the login form to log them," Apache said.

Here's what happened, in Apache.org's own words: On April 5th, the attackers via a compromised Slicehost server opened a new issue, INFRA-2591. This issue contained the following text:

ive got this error while browsing some projects in jira [obscured]

Tinyurl is a URL redirection and shortening tool. This specific URL redirected back to the Apache instance of JIRA, at a special URL containing a cross site scripting (XSS) attack. The attack was crafted to steal the session cookie from the user logged-in to JIRA. When this issue was opened against the Infrastructure team, several of our administators clicked on the link. This compromised their sessions, including their JIRA administrator rights.

At the same time as the XSS attack, the attackers started a brute force attack against the JIRA login.jsp, attempting hundreds of thousands of password combinations.

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