Pierluigi Paganini October 18, 2020

Microsoft released two out-of-band security updates to address remote code execution (RCE) bugs in the Microsoft Windows Codecs Library and Visual Studio Code.

Microsoft has released two out-of-band security updates to address two remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities that affect the Microsoft Windows Codecs Library and Visual Studio Code.

The two vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2020-17022 and CVE-2020-17023, have been rated as important severity.

The CVE-2020-17022 is a remote code execution vulnerability that exists in the way that Microsoft Windows Codecs Library handles objects in memory. An attacker can exploit the vulnerability to execute arbitrary code.

“Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a program process a specially crafted image file.” reads the advisory. “The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Windows Codecs Library handles objects in memory.”

The CVE-2020-17022 vulnerability affects all devices running Windows 10, version 1709 or later, and a vulnerable library version.

Windows 10 devices are not affected in their default configuration and that “only customers who have installed the optional HEVC or ‘HEVC from Device Manufacturer’ media codecs from Microsoft Store may be vulnerable.”

The CVE-2020-17022 flaw was reported to Microsoft by Dhanesh Kizhakkinan from FireEye.

The CVE-2020-17023 vulnerability is a remote code execution vulnerability that exists in Visual Studio Code. An attacker can trigger the flaw by tricking a user into opening a malicious ‘package.json’ file, then he 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.” reads the advisory.

“To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a target to clone a repository and open it in Visual Studio Code. Attacker-specified code would execute when the target opens the malicious ‘package.json’ file. The update address the vulnerability by modifying the way Visual Studio Code handles JSON files.”

The CVE-2020-17023 vulnerability was reported by Justin Steven.

The IT giant did not provide any mitigating measures or workarounds for the two vulnerabilities.

According to Microsoft, both vulnerabilities are not being exploited in the wild.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Microsoft Windows)

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