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This week, there is a new critical alert that requires the mission-critical community’s immediate attention.
Microsoft has addressed two zero-day vulnerabilities in last week’s rollout of security patches. A zero-day vulnerability is a software security flaw that is known to the software vendor but no patch exists to fix the flaw, creating the potential for exploitation by cybercriminals.
One of Microsoft’s zero-day vulnerabilities, also known as CVE-2020-1464, could allow an attacker to bypass security features intended to prevent improperly signed files from being loaded. The other zero-day vulnerability, known as CVE-2020-1380, could allow an attacker to gain the same user rights as the current user of an affected machine, which then could allow the attacker to: install programs; view, change or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Mission Critical Partners recommends applying the appropriate patches for Windows and Internet Explorer as soon as possible to properly address these vulnerabilities.CVE-2020-1464 exists in most supported and unsupported Windows systems and could enable an attacker to load improperly signed files, which could allow an attacker to trick Windows into believing a malicious file is from a trusted source. Another risk is that a successful exploit of this flaw could enable a remote code execution, enabling an attacker to gain user access rights. This scripting engine vulnerability could be triggered by a user visiting a malicious website or by using an embedded ActiveX control in an application or Microsoft Office document.
Both CVE-2020-1464 and CVE-2020-1380 were exploited prior to updates being released earlier this month and, according to a report that Microsoft said it received from global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, CVE-2020-1380 publicly was disclosed and was being abused in real-world attacks. The zero-day vulnerabilities alone pose enough of a threat to make them a considerable risk, but with the total amount of vulnerabilities (120) addressed this month being so high, mission-critical agencies should make it a priority to make sure that the systems in their environment are patched adequately.
Mission Critical Partners recommends that mission-critical organizations apply the patches released by Microsoft as soon as possible to address the discovered zero-day vulnerabilities.
For more in-depth information about the recommendations, please visit the following links:
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