Yearly Archives: 2023

Advisories

Critical Patches Issued for Microsoft Products, April 11, 2023

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Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Microsoft products, the most severe of which could allow for remote code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

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Advisories

Multiple Vulnerabilities in Mozilla Products Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution

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Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Mozilla products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution.

Mozilla Firefox is a web browser used to access the Internet.
Mozilla Firefox ESR is a version of the web browser intended to be deployed in large organizations.
Mozilla Thunderbird is an email client.
Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution. Depending on the privileges associated with the user an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

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News

Microsoft (& Apple) Patch Tuesday, April 2023 Edition

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Microsoft today released software updates to plug 100 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software, including a zero-day vulnerability that is already being used in active attacks. Not to be outdone, Apple has released a set of important updates addressing two zero-day vulnerabilities that are being used to attack iPhones, iPads and Macs.

On April 7, Apple issued emergency security updates to fix two weaknesses that are being actively exploited, including CVE-2023-28206, which can be exploited by apps to seize control over a device. CVE-2023-28205 can be used by a malicious or hacked website to install code.

Both vulnerabilities are addressed in iOS/iPadOS 16.4.1, iOS 15.5.7, and macOS 12.6.5 and 11.7.6. If you use Apple devices and you don’t have automatic updates enabled (they are on by default), you should probably take care of that soon as detailed instructions on how to attack CVE-2023-28206 are now public.

Microsoft’s bevy of 100 security updates released today include CVE-2023-28252, which is a weakness in Windows that Redmond says is under active attack. The vulnerability is in the Windows Common Log System File System (CLFS) driver, a core Windows component that was the source of attacks targeting a different zero-day vulnerability in February 2023.

“If it seems familiar, that’s because there was a similar 0-day patched in the same component just two months ago,” said Dustin Childs at the Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative. “To me, that implies the original fix was insufficient and attackers have found a method to bypass that fix. As in February, there is no information about how widespread these attacks may be. This type of exploit is typically paired with a code execution bug to spread malware or ransomware.”

According to the security firm Qualys, this vulnerability has been leveraged by cyber criminals to deploy Nokoyawa ransomware.

“This is a relatively new strain for which there is some open source intel to suggest that it is possibly related to Hive ransomware – one of the most notable ransomware families of 2021 and linked to breaches of over 300+ organizations in a matter of just few months,” said Bharat Jogi, director of vulnerability and threat research at Qualys.

Jogi said while it is still unclear which exact threat actor is targeting CVE-2023-28252, targets have been observed in South and North America, regions across Asia and at organizations in the Middle East.

Satnam Narang at Tenable notes that CVE-2023-28252 is also the second CLFS zero-day disclosed to Microsoft by researchers from Mandiant and DBAPPSecurity (CVE-2022-37969), though it is unclear if both of these discoveries are related to the same attacker.

Seven of the 100 vulnerabilities Microsoft fixed today are rated “Critical,” meaning they can be used to install malicious code with no help from the user. Ninety of the flaws earned Redmond’s slightly less-dire “Important” label, which refers to weaknesses that can be used to undermine the security of the system but which may require some amount of user interaction.

Narang said Microsoft has rated nearly 90% of this month’s vulnerabilities as “Exploitation Less Likely,” while just 9.3% of flaws were rated as “Exploitation More Likely.” Kevin Breen at Immersive Labs zeroed in on several notable flaws in that 9.3%, including CVE-2023-28231, a remote code execution vulnerability in a core Windows network process (DHCP) with a CVSS score of 8.8.

“‘Exploitation more likely’ means it’s not being actively exploited but adversaries may look to try and weaponize this one,” Breen said. “Micorosft does note that successful exploitation requires an attacker to have already gained initial access to the network. This could be via social engineering, spear phishing attacks, or exploitation of other services.”

Breen also called attention to CVE-2023-28220 and CVE-2023-28219 — a pair of remote code execution vulnerabilities affecting Windows Remote Access Servers (RAS) that also earned Microsoft’s “exploitation more likely” label.

“An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted connection request to a RAS server, which could lead to remote code execution,” Breen said. While not standard in all organizations, RAS servers typically have direct access from the Internet where most users and services are connected. This makes it extremely enticing for attackers as they don’t need to socially engineer their way into an organization. They can simply scan the internet for RAS servers and automate the exploitation of vulnerable devices.”

For more details on the updates released today, see the SANS Internet Storm Center roundup. If today’s updates cause any stability or usability issues in Windows, AskWoody.com will likely have the lowdown on that.

Please consider backing up your data and/or imaging your system before applying any updates. And feel free to sound off in the comments if you experience any problems as a result of these patches.

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Advisories

USN-6009-1: Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities

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It was discovered that the System V IPC implementation in the Linux kernel
did not properly handle large shared memory counts. A local attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion). (CVE-2021-3669)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the SGI
GRU driver in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could possibly use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2022-3424)

Ziming Zhang discovered that the VMware Virtual GPU DRM driver in the Linux
kernel contained an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2022-36280)

Hyunwoo Kim discovered that the DVB Core driver in the Linux kernel did not
properly perform reference counting in some situations, leading to a use-
after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial
of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2022-41218)

It was discovered that the network queuing discipline implementation in the
Linux kernel contained a null pointer dereference in some situations. A
local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2022-47929)

José Oliveira and Rodrigo Branco discovered that the prctl syscall
implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly protect against
indirect branch prediction attacks in some situations. A local attacker
could possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2023-0045)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) subsystem. A local attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2023-0266)

Kyle Zeng discovered that the IPv6 implementation in the Linux kernel
contained a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in certain situations. A
local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2023-0394)

Kyle Zeng discovered that the ATM VC queuing discipline implementation in
the Linux kernel contained a type confusion vulnerability in some
situations. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system
crash). (CVE-2023-23455)

It was discovered that the RNDIS USB driver in the Linux kernel contained
an integer overflow vulnerability. A local attacker with physical access
could plug in a malicious USB device to cause a denial of service (system
crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-23559)

Wei Chen discovered that the DVB USB AZ6027 driver in the Linux kernel
contained a null pointer dereference when handling certain messages from
user space. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash). (CVE-2023-28328)

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Advisories

USN-6007-1: Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities

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It was discovered that the Upper Level Protocol (ULP) subsystem in the
Linux kernel did not properly handle sockets entering the LISTEN state in
certain protocols, leading to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-0461)

It was discovered that an out-of-bounds write vulnerability existed in the
Video for Linux 2 (V4L2) implementation in the Linux kernel. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2022-20369)

Pawan Kumar Gupta, Alyssa Milburn, Amit Peled, Shani Rehana, Nir Shildan
and Ariel Sabba discovered that some Intel processors with Enhanced
Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation (eIBRS) did not properly handle RET
instructions after a VM exits. A local attacker could potentially use this
to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2022-26373)

David Leadbeater discovered that the netfilter IRC protocol tracking
implementation in the Linux Kernel incorrectly handled certain message
payloads in some situations. A remote attacker could possibly use this to
cause a denial of service or bypass firewall filtering. (CVE-2022-2663)

Johannes Wikner and Kaveh Razavi discovered that for some AMD x86-64
processors, the branch predictor could by mis-trained for return
instructions in certain circumstances. A local attacker could possibly use
this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2022-29900)

Johannes Wikner and Kaveh Razavi discovered that for some Intel x86-64
processors, the Linux kernel’s protections against speculative branch
target injection attacks were insufficient in some circumstances. A local
attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive information.
(CVE-2022-29901)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the Kernel Connection
Multiplexor (KCM) socket implementation in the Linux kernel when releasing
sockets in certain situations. A local attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2022-3521)

It was discovered that the Netronome Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel
contained a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this
to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2022-3545)

It was discovered that the Broadcom FullMAC USB WiFi driver in the Linux
kernel did not properly perform bounds checking in some situations. A
physically proximate attacker could use this to craft a malicious USB
device that when inserted, could cause a denial of service (system crash)
or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2022-3628)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the
Bluetooth stack in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2022-3640)

It was discovered that the NILFS2 file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly deallocate memory in certain error conditions. An
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion).
(CVE-2022-3646)

Khalid Masum discovered that the NILFS2 file system implementation in the
Linux kernel did not properly handle certain error conditions, leading to a
use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2022-3649)

Hyunwoo Kim discovered that an integer overflow vulnerability existed in
the PXA3xx graphics driver in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could
possibly use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2022-39842)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the SMSC UFX USB driver
implementation in the Linux kernel, leading to a use-after-free
vulnerability. A physically proximate attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2022-41849)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the Roccat HID driver in
the Linux kernel, leading to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2022-41850)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the Xen network backend
driver in the Linux kernel when handling dropped packets in certain
circumstances. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(kernel deadlock). (CVE-2022-42328, CVE-2022-42329)

Tamás Koczka discovered that the Bluetooth L2CAP implementation in the
Linux kernel did not properly initialize memory in some situations. A
physically proximate attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory). (CVE-2022-42895)

It was discovered that the USB monitoring (usbmon) component in the Linux
kernel did not properly set permissions on memory mapped in to user space
processes. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2022-43750)

It was discovered that the NTFS file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly validate attributes in certain situations, leading
to an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. A local attacker could possibly use
this to expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2023-26607)

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Advisories

CVE-2020-9009

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The ShipStation.com plugin 1.1 and earlier for CS-Cart allows remote attackers to insert arbitrary information into the database (via action=shipnotify) because access to this endpoint is completely unchecked. The attacker must guess an order number.

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