June 18, 2013

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Microsoft releases Fix It for critical Internet Explorer 8 vulnerability

May 9, 2013 by

fix_it(LiveHacking.Com) – Less than a week ago Microsoft revealed that version 8 of its web browser Internet Explorer suffers from a nasty remote code execution vulnerability that could catch users if they mistakenly follow a link, in an email or instant message, to a malicious website. Microsoft’s initial recommendation was to upgrade to IE 9 or IE 10 which unfortunately isn’t possible for Windows XP users.

For those stuck with IE 8, Microsoft suggested setting the Internet and local intranet security zone settings to “High” and configuring Internet Explorer to prompt before running any Active Scripting. Microsoft didn’t however mention one other important option – switch to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox!

If switching isn’t a option and you don’t know how to fiddle with the security zone settings, Microsoft has now released an “easy, one-click Fix it” to help mitigate this problem. The MSHTML Shim Workaround isn’t intended to be a replacement for a proper security update and Microsoft is suggesting that we all wait a day or two to see what it has planned for May’s Patch Tuesday, the implication being that the IE8 bug will be fixed then.

Filed Under: Microsoft, News, Vulnerability Tagged With: ,

Microsoft to patch critical flaws in Windows and IE on Tuesday

April 5, 2013 by

microsoft logo(LiveHacking.Com) – Microsoft has released its customary advanced warning about security vulnerabilities that it plans to fix during its next Patch Tuesday. April’s update will contain nine bulletins, two of which are marked as Critical. The Critical bulletins address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer. The remaining seven are tagged as Important and will address issues in Microsoft Windows, Office, Anti-malware Software, and Server Software.

The IE bulletin affects all supported versions of Microsoft’s browser from IE 6 on XP to IE 10 on Windows 8 and RT. These vulnerabilities in IE could allow hackers to remotely execute arbitrary code (often used to infect a PC with malware via a drive-by download) on unpatched machines.

The Critical patches for Windows, which are also to fix remote code execution vulnerabilities, affects only the older versions of Windows from Windows 7 back to Windows XP. Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 and the version of Windows for tablets, Windows RT, are not affected.

Bulletin 7 only affects Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT and applies to some flaws in Windows Defender which could allow a hacker to run programs at an elevated privilege. Paul Henry, security and forensic analyst at Lumension, told The Register that “Windows Defender is an important security component for the new operating systems, so it’s a little concerning to see it impacted here, even if only at an ‘important’ rather than critical level. If you’re running either of those systems, I would patch this important bulletin first.”

Microsoft plans to publish the bulletins on April 9, 2013 at approximately 10 a.m. PDT.

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Microsoft and Adobe release patches to fix critical vulnerabilities

March 13, 2013 by

(LiveHacking.Com) – For March’s Patch Tuesday Microsoft has released seven bulletins, four Critical-class and three Important-class. The bulletins address 20 vulnerabilities in total across several Microsoft products including Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Server Tools, and Silverlight. Likewise Adobe has released a security update for its popular Flash Player to address vulnerabilities that could potentially allow a hacker to take control of a vulnerable system.

Microsoft

Among the fixes is a patch for an issue in the Kernel-Mode Drivers (KMD) where an attacker could gain administrator privileges by inserting a malicious USB flash drive into a Windows machine. Since the attack works even when no user is currently logged on, it means that anyone with casual access, such as a security guard, office cleaner or anyone with access to office space, could simply plug in a USB flash drive into a PC and perform any action as an administrator. In total MS13-027 resolves three privately reported vulnerabilities correcting the way that a Windows kernel-mode USB drivers handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in kernel mode.

Nine issues have also been fixed in Internet Explorer. The most severe of these could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using IE. Upon successful exploit An attacker could gain the same rights as the current owner. All but one of these issues were privately reported to Microsoft and there are no reports of these vulnerabilities being used in the wild.

Microsoft Silverlight has also been patched to fix a vulnerability that could allow remote code execution if an attacker hosts a website that contains a specially crafted Silverlight application. The attacker could also take advantage of compromised websites and websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements.

Adobe

adobe-logoAdobe has released a security update for Adobe Flash Player for Windows, OS X, Linux and Android. These update addresses vulnerabilities that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Affected Versions

  • Adobe Flash Player 11.6.602.171 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
  • Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.273 and earlier versions for Linux
  • Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.47 and earlier versions for Android 4.x
  • Adobe Flash Player 11.1.111.43 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and 2.x
  • Adobe AIR 3.6.0.597 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and Android
  • Adobe AIR 3.6.0.597 SDK and earlier versions
  • Adobe AIR 3.6.0.599 SDK & Compiler and earlier versions

The update address four known vulnerabilities  an integer overflow vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2013-0646), a use-after-free vulnerability that could be exploited to execute arbitrary code (CVE-2013-0650), a memory corruption vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2013-1371), a heap buffer overflow vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2013-1375).

As a result of the update, Google has also released a new version of Chrome.

 

Filed Under: Adobe, Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, News, Vulnerability Tagged With: , , , , ,

Microsoft fixes Critical remote code execution vulnerabilities

February 13, 2013 by

microsoft logo(LiveHacking.Com) – Microsoft has released 12 bulletins, five Critical and seven Important , to addressing 57 different vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Exchange and .NET Framework.

Among the fixes was a security update that resolves thirteen vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe of these issues could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. As well as generally patching IE, the company also patched its implementation of the Vector Markup Language (VML) in its browser. If exploited the vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted webpage. Microsoft says that it is aware of this vulnerability being used as an information disclosure vulnerability in targeted attacks. It is therefore essential that this patch is applied as soon as possible.

There is also an update for Microsoft Windows Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Automation. Again, the vulnerability could allow remote code execution, this time  if a user opens a specially crafted file. The fix corrects the way in which OLE Automation parses files. This security update is rated as Critical but only for Windows XP Service Pack 3. All other support versions of Microsoft Windows are not affected.

Similarly Microsoft fixed a vulnerability in how different types of media are decompressed. The remote code execution vulnerability could be exploited by tricking a user to open  a specially crafted media file (such as an .mpg file), open a Microsoft Office document (such as a .ppt file) that contains a maliciously crafted embedded media file, or if the user runs programs to receives streaming content designed to exploit the vulnerability.

There is also a fix for remote code execution vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, the most severe of which could allow remote code execution in the security context of the transcoding service on the Exchange server if a user previews a specially crafted file using Outlook Web App (OWA). The transcoding service in Exchange that is used for WebReady Document Viewing.

Filed Under: Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, News, Vulnerability Tagged With: , ,

Microsoft to fix IE8 zero-day vulnerability today with out-of-band fix

January 14, 2013 by

security news at livehacking.com(LiveHacking.Com) –  Microsoft will release an update to Internet Explorer today to fix the zero-day vulnerability which was found at the end of last year. An exploit was found, in the wild, for a previously unknown (zero-day) vulnerability during the clean up of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) website, which had been compromised by hackers, probably from China. The exploit found used a heap spray attack against the zero-day vulnerability.

Microsoft issued  Security Advisory 2794220 which confirmed that the issue impacts Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8. Internet Explorer 9 and 10 are not affected by this issue, so upgrading mitigates the problem, however neither IE 9 or IE 10 is available for Windows XP users.

A few days later, Microsoft published a Fix It as a temporary measure until the full patch is available. The Fix It uses a shim to change a few bytes of data in a .dll and so prevent the vulnerability from being used for code execution. However once the Fix It was out, security information company Exodus Intelligence published details on how it had managed to bypass the shim and make IE vulnerable again. This placed greater pressure on Microsoft to issue an out-of-band fix, which it will now do today.

“While we have still seen only a limited number of customers affected by the issue, the potential exists that more customers could be affected in the future.  The bulletin has a severity rating of Critical, and it addresses CVE-2012-4792,” said Dustin Childs, Group Manager of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing unit.

The patch will be made available for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 along with Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Microsoft will release the out-of-band security update at 10 a.m. PST on Monday, January 14, 2013.

Filed Under: Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, Microsoft, News, Vulnerability Tagged With: , ,

Someone has bypassed Microsoft’s Fix It for the IE 8 zero-day vulnerability already

January 8, 2013 by

security news at livehacking.com(LiveHacking.Com) – Security information company Exodus Intelligence has published a blog post claiming to have bypassed Microsoft’s Fix It for the current zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer 8. The official Fix It was released by Microsoft as a temporary workaround to the zero-day vulnerability found in Internet Explorer 6,7 and 8. The bug in IE can corrupt memory in such a way that it allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within IE. To exploit it, users are tricked into visiting a specially crafted website which uses either Flash or Javascript to generate a heap spray attack against IE. The Fix It uses a shim to change a few bytes of data in a .dll and so prevent the vulnerability from being used for code execution.

According to Exodus Intelligence it is now possible to bypass the shim and compromise a fully-patched system. Due to the nature of its business, Exodus Intelligence has passed on the details about the bypass to its customers. Thankfully it has also notified Microsoft. The company promises to fully disclose the details of the bypass once Microsoft has fully addresses the issue.

“After less than a day of reverse engineering, we found that we were able to bypass the fix and compromise a fully-patched system with a variation of the exploit we developed earlier this week,” said Exodus Intelligence on its blog.

Microsoft will release seven security bulletins today to address 12 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, Developer Tools, Microsoft Server Software and the .NET Framework. However a fix for the Internet Explorer vulnerability will not be among the patches.

Internet Explorer 9 and 10 are immune to the attack and upgrading to the later versions of IE will protect users (as will using a different browser like Firefox or Chrome), the problem is that XP users can’t upgrade IE beyond 8. Also Enterprise users may still be stuck on older versions of IE due to legacy application support. In combination this means that pressure is now mounting on Microsoft to make an out-of-band release for IE to fix the vulnerability.

Filed Under: Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, News Tagged With: , , ,

In Brief: Microsoft publishes official Fix It for IE 8 vulnerability

January 2, 2013 by

internet-explorer-logo(LiveHacking.Com) –  Microsoft has updated Security Advisory 2749920 to include new information about the official Fix It that the company said it would release.  The Fix It, which is a temporary measure issued by Redmond until a full patch can be delivered, is a response to the zero-day vulnerability found in Internet Explorer 6,7 and 8.

The Fix It uses a shim to change a few bytes of data in a .dll and so prevent the vulnerability from being used for code execution. If triggered the browser will now just crash. Applying the Fix it does not require a reboot.

“While we have still observed only a few attempts to exploit this issue, we encourage all customers to apply this Fix it to help protect their systems,” said Dustin Childs from Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing unit.

 

Filed Under: Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, News, Security Tagged With: , ,

New Critical zero-day vulnerability found in IE 6,7 and 8

December 31, 2012 by

security news at livehacking.com(LiveHacking.Com) –  While investigating reports that the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) website had been compromised, FireEye discovered that the site was hosting malware that exploited a previously unknown (zero-day) vulnerability in Internet Explorer 8. The attack seen by FireEye uses Adobe Flash to generate a heap spray attack against IE. According to Microsoft’s Security Advisory 2794220, the issue impacts Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 and that there are a small number of targeted attacks happening in the wild. A successful exploit, which is normally triggered by getting a victim using IE 8 to browse a malicious website, allows remote code execution. Internet Explorer 9 and 10 are not affected by this issue, so upgrading to these versions will help defend from this vulnerability. However neither IE 9 or IE 10 is available for Windows XP users.

The vulnerability exists because of the way that Internet Explorer accesses a previously deleted chunk of memory. The vulnerability can corrupt memory in such a way that it allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within IE. By making a specially crafted website, that is designed to trigger an exploit, the vulnerability can be used when an Internet Explorer 6,7 or 8 user is convinced/tricked into viewing the site.

Microsoft’s initial investigation has shown that at least four attacks exist in the wild, each exploiting the vulnerability using a different attack method. Along with the Flash based heap spray, Microsoft have also seen some obfuscated Javascript that can be to trigger the vulnerability, an ASLR bypass using either Java6 MSVCR71.DLL or Office 2007/2010 hxds.dll and a DEP bypass via a chain of ROP gadgets.

What can you do?

Aside from upgrading to IE9 and IE 10 and while IE 8 users are waiting for a patch, IE users can can block the current targeted attacks by disabling the attack vectors:

    • Disabling Javascript will prevent the vulnerability from being triggered initially.
    • Disabling Flash will prevent the ActionScipt-based heap spray from preparing memory such that the freed object contains exploit code.
    • Disabling the ms-help protocol handler AND ensuring that Java6 is not allowed to run will block the ASLR bypass and the associated ROP chain.

Of course trying to use IE8 with Javascrit disabled is probably next to impossible. So while Microsoft are working on a comprehensive update to IE there is a trick which Microsoft is releasing as a Fix It. The trick does not address the vulnerability but does prevent the vulnerability from being exploited for code execution by making a two-byte change  (to replace a je instruction with a jmp) to mshtml.

Known as a shim, the change may have the side effect in some circumstances of the default form button not being selected by default.

The shim is currently being packaged and code-signed as a one-click, deployable Microsoft Fix It tool. The 32-bit and 64-bit shims are attached to this blog post and also available at the following URLs:

 

Filed Under: Intenet Explorer, Microsoft, News, Vulnerability Tagged With: , ,

Microsoft fixes five Critical vulnerabilities as promised

December 12, 2012 by

(LiveHacking.Com) –  As expected Microsoft has released seven bulletins, five to address Critical vulnerabilities and and two for Important vulnerabilities  In total the bulletins address 12 vulnerabilities a variety of products including Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Word and Windows Server.

According to Microsoft the two most important bulletins are MS12-077  – a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer and MS12-079 - a patch to fix a vulnerability in Microsoft Word that could allow remote code execution.

The IE update resolves three privately reported vulnerabilities, the most severe of which could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. The patch for Word resolves a privately reported vulnerability that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted RTF file using an affected version of Microsoft Office software, or previews or opens a specially crafted RTF email message in Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email viewer.

The other Critical vulnerabilities are MS12-078 - which fixes vulnerabilities in Windows kernel-mode drivers, MS12-080 - which addresses vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server and MS12-081 - which resolves a vulnerability in Windows file handling component. All of these three could allow remote code execution if exploited.

Adobe has also released an update to its Flash Player and as a result Microsoft has revised Security Advisory 2755801 to update the built-in version of Flash in Internet Explorer.

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Microsoft to patch five critical security flaws in time for the holidays

December 7, 2012 by

(LiveHacking.Com) –  Microsoft has published its advance notification for the security vulnerabilities it will fix in December’s patch Tuesday. This month it will release seven security bulletins, five of which are rated as Critical and two as Important. In total these bulletins will address 11 vulnerabilities. The five Critical bulletins will fix security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Word, Windows Server and Internet Explorer. While the two Important-rated bulletins will resolve issues in Microsoft Windows.

Six of the seven bulletins address vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected PC. While the other bulletin addresses a “Security Feature Bypass.” When Microsoft talk about a Critical rated vulnerabilities it means a flaw which can be exploited and allow arbitrary code execution without any user interaction. These vulnerabilities can allow self-propagating malware to spread. These types of vulnerabilities are normally exploited without warnings or prompts and can be triggered by browsing to a web page or opening email.

Windows XP is affected by all but one of the Windows related bulletins, as its Windows Server 2003.  Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are likewise affected by four of the five fixes for Windows. For each of the previously mentioned operating systems  bulletin seven (which is rated as Important)  doesn’t apply. However bulletin seven does affect Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012.

Windows 8, Microsoft’s latest operating system which was released in October, is affected by two of the Critical bulletins and just one of Important ones.

Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 are all affected by the Critical rated bulletin number three as is Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Office Web Apps 2010. Bulletin four deals with Critical issues in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and 2010.

“While it may be the most wonderful time of the year, we know it can also be the busiest time of the year,” wrote Dustin Childs from Microsoft. “We recommend that customers pause from searching for those hot new gadgets and review the ANS summary page for more information. Please prepare for bulletin testing and deployment as soon as possible to help ensure a smooth update process.”

Microsoft has scheduled the bulletin release for the second Tuesday of the month, at approximately 10 a.m. PST.

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