Microsoft October security bulletins patch tens of vulnerabilities, including four Microsoft zero-day vulnerabilities that have been exploited in the wild.
Microsoft has released its monthly Patch Tuesday update that includes a total of 10 security bulletins, five the flaws addressed by the updates are zero-day vulnerabilities affecting Internet Explorer, Edge, Windows and Office products.
They could be exploited by a remote attacker to execute commands on the victim’s system. Security patches for the Microsoft zero-day vulnerabilities are included in MS16-118, MS16-119, MS16-120, MS16-121 and MS16-126.
The Microsoft zero-day have been reported by security experts from Google, Kaspersky, Proofpoint and Austria’s military CERT (MilCERT), there is no information about the motivation behind the attacks that exploited the flaws.
Below the list of Microsoft Zero-Day Vulnerabilities fixed by Microsoft in the October Patch Tuesday update.
- CVE-2016-3298 is a browser information disclosure vulnerability in the Internet Explorer. It is listed in the MS16-118 bulletin that 11 vulnerabilities. An attacker could exploit this flaw to “test for the presence of files on disk.” “An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Internet Explorer improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could test for the presence of files on disk. For an attack to be successful an attacker must persuade a user to open a malicious website.” reported Microsoft.
- CVE-2016-7189: is a remote code execution vulnerability that affects the browser’s scripting engine and is included in the MS16-119 bulletin. It could allow attackers to gain the same user rights as the current use. “The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Microsoft Edge. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users with administrative user rights.” reported Microsoft.
- CVE-2016-3393: is a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Graphics Component that has been addressed in MS16-120. Attacker could exploit is via the web, or by sending to the victims an email containing malicious file or over a file-sharing app. “A remote code execution vulnerability exists due to the way the Windows GDI component handles objects in the memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take control of the affected system. 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 users who operate with administrative user rights.” reported Microsoft.
- CVE-2016-7193: Is a Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability that has been addressed in MS16-121 bulletin. The flaw is a remote code execution vulnerability that affects the way Office handles RTF files. “An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. 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 users who operate with administrative user rights.” reported Microsoft.”Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Office software. 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) that contains a specially crafted file that is designed to exploit the vulnerabilities. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website.”
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Pierluigi Paganini
(Security Affairs – Microsoft zero-day flaws, hacking)
Pierluigi Paganini Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer.
Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US.
Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines.
Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.