• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Hacking Windows Server Update Services to infect enterprises

Hacking Windows Server Update Services to infect enterprises

Pierluigi Paganini August 08, 2015

Two researchers demonstrated how to compromise corporate networks by hacking the Windows Server Update Services and serve malware instead security patches.

Security researchers from Context security firm have discovered a technique to serve malware exploiting the Windows update mechanism. The researchers are able to exploit insecurely configured implementations of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) for an enterprise to compromise machines exposing organizations to serious risks.

The Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is used by administrators to deploy Windows updates to the machines within the organization.

Despite the Windows update is a critical process, by default the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) does not use SSL encrypted HTTPS delivery of the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) XML web service.

Windows Server Update Services

The lack of encryption opens the door to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, this means that an attacker can inject malicious code in the legitimate traffic, for example replacing software updates with trojanized version of the patch.

The researchers Paul Stone and Alex Chapman explained that attacks against the Windows Server Update Services are very easy to carry on and don’t request high privileges to push malicious updates.

Let’s remember that all update packages available on the Microsoft Update website are digitally signed, a measure used to ensure authenticity and integrity.

However, as explained by the experts the attackers can alter Windows Update by installing malware in the metadata of the update.

“It’s a simple case of a common configuration problem,”“While Microsoft does not enforce SSL for WSUS, it presents the option and most companies will go through this extra stage to use HTTPS. But for those that don’t it presents an opportunity for an administrator to compromise complete corporate networks in one go.” researchers said in the paper.”By repurposing existing Microsoft-signed binaries, we were able to demonstrate that an attacker can inject malicious updates to execute arbitrary commands,” researchers said in the paper.

The experts explained that an attacker can inject malware in the SOAP XML communication between the WSUS server and the client, in this way there is no way for the client to distinguish a legitimate update from a bogus one.

Another element of concern for the Windows update process is that it includes more than 25,000 drivers developed by third-party companies. Potentially each driver could open the door to the hackers due to the presence of security flaws.

“We have started to download and investigate some 2,284 third-party drivers,” said Paul. “Our concern is that when plugging in a USB device, some of these drivers may have vulnerabilities that could be exploited for malicious purposes. Everyone is familiar with the ‘searching for Drivers’ and ‘Windows Update’ dialog boxes on their desktops – but these seemingly innocuous windows may be hiding some serious threats.”

The researchers demonstrated the attack at the Black Hat 2105 conference in Las Vegas, a detailed paper titled “WSUSpect: Compromising the Windows Enterprise via Windows Update” is available online.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Windows Server Update Services, Hacking)


facebook linkedin twitter

Black Hat 2015 Hacking Windows Windows Server Update Services Windows Updates WSUS

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

    Cyber Crime / July 28, 2025

    China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

    Hacking / July 28, 2025

    Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

    Data Breach / July 27, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT