Headline
Apple & Microsoft Patch Tuesday, July 2023 Edition
Microsoft Corp. today released software updates to quash 130 security bugs in its Windows operating systems and related software, including at least five flaws that are already seeing active exploitation. Meanwhile, Apple customers have their own zero-day woes again this month: On Monday, Apple issued (and then quickly pulled) an emergency update to fix a zero-day vulnerability that is being exploited on MacOS and iOS devices.
Microsoft Corp. today released software updates to quash 130 security bugs in its Windows operating systems and related software, including at least five flaws that are already seeing active exploitation. Meanwhile, Apple customers have their own zero-day woes again this month: On Monday, Apple issued (and then quickly pulled) an emergency update to fix a zero-day vulnerability that is being exploited on MacOS and iOS devices.
On July 10, Apple pushed a “Rapid Security Response” update to fix a code execution flaw in the Webkit browser component built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Ventura. Almost as soon as the patch went out, Apple pulled the software because it was reportedly causing problems loading certain websites. MacRumors says Apple will likely re-release the patches when the glitches have been addressed.
Launched in May, Apple’s Rapid Security Response updates are designed to address time-sensitive vulnerabilities, and this is the second month Apple has used it. July marks the sixth month this year that Apple has released updates for zero-day vulnerabilities — those that get exploited by malware or malcontents before there is an official patch available.
If you rely on Apple devices and don’t have automatic updates enabled, please take a moment to check the patch status of your various iDevices. The latest security update that includes the fix for the zero-day bug should be available in iOS/iPadOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, and Safari 16.5.2.
On the Windows side, there are at least four vulnerabilities patched this month that earned high CVSS (badness) scores and that are already being exploited in active attacks, according to Microsoft. They include CVE-2023-32049, which is a hole in Windows SmartScreen that lets malware bypass security warning prompts; and CVE-2023-35311 allows attackers to bypass security features in Microsoft Outlook.
The two other zero-day threats this month for Windows are both privilege escalation flaws. CVE-2023-32046 affects a core Windows component called MSHTML, which is used by Windows and other applications, like Office, Outlook and Skype. CVE-2023-36874 is an elevation of privilege bug in the Windows Error Reporting Service.
Many security experts expected Microsoft to address a fifth zero-day flaw — CVE-2023-36884 — a remote code execution weakness in Office and Windows.
“Surprisingly, there is no patch yet for one of the five zero-day vulnerabilities,” said Adam Barnett, lead software engineer at Rapid7. “Microsoft is actively investigating publicly disclosed vulnerability, and promises to update the advisory as soon as further guidance is available.”
Barnett notes that Microsoft links exploitation of this vulnerability with Storm-0978, the software giant’s name for a cybercriminal group based out of Russia that is identified by the broader security community as RomCom.
“Exploitation of CVE-2023-36884 may lead to installation of the eponymous RomCom trojan or other malware,” Barnett said. “[Microsoft] suggests that RomCom / Storm-0978 is operating in support of Russian intelligence operations. The same threat actor has also been associated with ransomware attacks targeting a wide array of victims.”
Microsoft’s advisory on CVE-2023-36884 is pretty sparse, but it does include a Windows registry hack that should help mitigate attacks on this vulnerability. Microsoft has also published a blog post about phishing campaigns tied to Storm-0978 and to the exploitation of this flaw.
Barnett said it’s while it’s possible that a patch will be issued as part of next month’s Patch Tuesday, Microsoft Office is deployed just about everywhere, and this threat actor is making waves.
“Admins should be ready for an out-of-cycle security update for CVE-2023-36884,” he said.
Microsoft also today released new details about how it plans to address the existential threat of malware that is cryptographically signed by…wait for it….Microsoft.
In late 2022, security experts at Sophos, Trend Micro and Cisco warned that ransomware criminals were using signed, malicious drivers in an attempt to evade antivirus and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.
In a blog post today, Sophos’s Andrew Brandt wrote that Sophos identified 133 malicious Windows driver files that were digitally signed since April 2021, and found 100 of those were actually signed by Microsoft. Microsoft said today it is taking steps to ensure those malicious driver files can no longer run on Windows computers.
As KrebsOnSecurity noted in last month’s story on malware signing-as-a-service, code-signing certificates are supposed to help authenticate the identity of software publishers, and provide cryptographic assurance that a signed piece of software has not been altered or tampered with. Both of these qualities make stolen or ill-gotten code-signing certificates attractive to cybercriminal groups, who prize their ability to add stealth and longevity to malicious software.
For a closer look at the patches released by Microsoft today, check out the always-thorough Patch Tuesday roundup from the SANS Internet Storm Center. And it’s not a bad idea to hold off updating for a few days until Microsoft works out any kinks in the updates: AskWoody.com usually has the lowdown on any patches that may be causing problems for Windows users.
And as ever, please consider backing up your system or at least your important documents and data before applying system updates. If you encounter any problems with these updates, please drop a note about it here in the comments.
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Plus: Mozilla patches more than a dozen vulnerabilities in Firefox, and enterprise companies Ivanti, Cisco, and SAP roll out a slew of updates to get rid of some high-severity bugs.
Hello everyone! This month I decided NOT to make an episode completely dedicated to Microsoft Patch Tuesday. Instead, this episode will be an answer to the question of how my Vulnerability Management month went. A retrospection of some kind. Alternative video link (for Russia): https://vk.com/video-149273431_456239134 GitHub exploits and Vulristics This month I made some improvements […]
Categories: Exploits and vulnerabilities Categories: News Microsoft has announced patches for 87 vulnerabilities this month, including two that are being actively exploited. (Read more...) The post August Patch Tuesday stops actively exploited attack chain and more appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.
Microsoft has patched a total of 74 flaws in its software as part of the company's Patch Tuesday updates for August 2023, down from the voluminous 132 vulnerabilities the company fixed last month. This comprises six Critical and 67 Important security vulnerabilities. Also released by the tech giant are two defense-in-depth updates for Microsoft Office (ADV230003) and the Memory Integrity System
Microsoft Corp. today issued software updates to plug more than 70 security holes in its Windows operating systems and related products, including a patch that addresses multiple zero-day vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild.
Hello everyone! This episode will be about Microsoft Patch Tuesday for July 2023, including vulnerabilities that were added between June and July Patch Tuesdays. Alternative video link (for Russia): https://vk.com/video-149273431_456239131 As usual, I use my open source Vulristics project to analyse and prioritize vulnerabilities. Vulristics improvements I optimized the detection of the vulnerable product and the type […]
Categories: Business Tags: microsoft Tags: zero-day Tags: exploit Tags: CVE-2023-36884 Tags: storm-0978 Tags: email Tags: phish Tags: phishing Tags: Ukraine We take a look at reports of an exploit being deployed via booby trapped Word documents. (Read more...) The post Zero-day deploys remote code execution vulnerability via Word documents appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.
Microsoft on Tuesday released updates to address a total of 130 new security flaws spanning its software, including six zero-day flaws that it said have been actively exploited in the wild. Of the 130 vulnerabilities, nine are rated Critical and 121 are rated Important in severity. This is in addition to eight flaws the tech giant patched in its Chromium-based Edge browser towards the end of
Categories: Exploits and vulnerabilities Categories: News Tags: Microsoft Tags: Adobe Tags: Apple Tags: Android Tags: Cisco Tags: Fortinet Tags: MOVEit Tags: Mozilla Tags: SAP Tags: VMware Tags: CVE-2023-32049 Tags: CVE-2023-35311 Tags: CVE-2023-32046 Tags: CVE-2023-36874 Tags: CVE-2023-36844 For the July 2023 Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has issued security updates for 130 vulnerabilities, four of which are known to have been actively exploited. (Read more...) The post Update now! Microsoft patches a whopping 130 vulnerabilities appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.
Four of the disclosed vulnerabilities — albeit “important” ones — have been detected being exploited in the wild: CVE-2023-32046, CVE-2023-32049, CVE-2023-35311 and CVE-2023-36874.
Four of the disclosed vulnerabilities — albeit “important” ones — have been detected being exploited in the wild: CVE-2023-32046, CVE-2023-32049, CVE-2023-35311 and CVE-2023-36874.
Four of the disclosed vulnerabilities — albeit “important” ones — have been detected being exploited in the wild: CVE-2023-32046, CVE-2023-32049, CVE-2023-35311 and CVE-2023-36874.
Four of the disclosed vulnerabilities — albeit “important” ones — have been detected being exploited in the wild: CVE-2023-32046, CVE-2023-32049, CVE-2023-35311 and CVE-2023-36874.
Microsoft is investigating reports of a series of remote code execution vulnerabilities impacting Windows and Office products. Microsoft is aware of targeted attacks that attempt to exploit these vulnerabilities by using specially-crafted Microsoft Office documents. An attacker could create a specially crafted Microsoft Office document that enables them to perform remote code execution in the context of the victim. However, an attacker would have to convince the victim to open the malicious file. Upon completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to help protect our customers. This might include providing a security update through our monthly release process or providing an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs. Please see the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Blog https://aka.ms/Storm-0978 Entry for important information about steps you can take to protect your system from this vulnerability. This CVE will be updated with new inform...
Windows MSHTML Platform Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Windows Error Reporting Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
**What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability?** An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain administrator privileges.
**According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do?** Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file. * In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. * In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message, and then convince them to open the specially crafted file.
**According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do?** The user would have to click on a specially crafted URL to be compromised by the attacker.
**According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do?** The user would have to click on a specially crafted URL to be compromised by the attacker.