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Microsoft on Thursday shared fresh guidance on yet another vulnerability affecting the Windows Print Spooler service, stating that it's working to address it in an upcoming security update. Tracked as  CVE-2021-34481  (CVSS score: 7.8), the issue concerns a local privilege escalation flaw that could be abused to perform unauthorized actions on the system. The company credited security researcher Jacob Baines for discovering and reporting the bug. "An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges," the Windows maker said in its advisory. "An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights." However, it's worth pointing out that successful exploitation of the vulnerability requires the attacker to have t

Threat intelligence researchers from Google on Wednesday  shed more light  on four in-the-wild zero-days in Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer browsers that were exploited by malicious actors in different campaigns since the start of the year. What's more, three of the four zero-days were engineered by commercial providers and sold to and used by government-backed actors, contributing to an uptick in real-world attacks. The list of now-patched vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2021-1879 : Use-After-Free in QuickTimePluginReplacement (Apple WebKit) CVE-2021-21166 : Chrome Object Lifecycle Issue in Audio CVE-2021-30551 : Chrome Type Confusion in V8 CVE-2021-33742 : Internet Explorer out-of-bounds write in MSHTML Both Chrome zero-days — CVE-2021-21166 and CVE-2021-30551 — are believed to have been used by the same actor, and were delivered as one-time links sent via email to targets located in Armenia, with the links redirecting unsuspecting users to attacker-controlled

The introduction of Open AI's ChatGPT was a defining moment for the software industry, touching off a GenAI race with its November 2022 release. SaaS vendors are now rushing to upgrade tools with enhanced productivity capabilities that are driven by generative AI. Among a wide range of uses, GenAI tools make it easier for developers to build software, assist sales teams in mundane email writing, help marketers produce unique content at low cost, and enable teams and creatives to brainstorm new ideas.  Recent significant GenAI product launches include Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Salesforce Einstein GPT. Notably, these GenAI tools from leading SaaS providers are paid enhancements, a clear sign that no SaaS provider will want to miss out on cashing in on the GenAI transformation. Google will soon launch its SGE "Search Generative Experience" platform for premium AI-generated summaries rather than a list of websites.  At this pace, it's just a matter of a short time befo

Microsoft rolled out  Patch Tuesday updates  for the month of July with fixes for a total of 117 security vulnerabilities, including nine zero-day flaws, of which four are said to be under active attacks in the wild, potentially enabling an adversary to take control of affected systems.  Of the 117 issues, 13 are rated Critical, 103 are rated Important, and one is rated as Moderate in severity, with six of these bugs publicly known at the time of release.  The updates span across several of Microsoft's products, including Windows, Bing, Dynamics, Exchange Server, Office, Scripting Engine, Windows DNS, and Visual Studio Code. July also marks a dramatic jump in the volume of vulnerabilities, surpassing the number Microsoft collectively addressed as part of its updates in  May  (55) and  June  (50). Chief among the security flaws actively exploited are as follows — CVE-2021-34527  (CVSS score: 8.8) - Windows Print Spooler Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (publicly disclosed

Cybersecurity agencies in Australia and the U.S. are  warning  of an actively exploited vulnerability impacting ForgeRock's OpenAM access management solution that could be leveraged to execute arbitrary code on an affected system remotely. "The [Australian Cyber Security Centre] has observed actors exploiting this vulnerability to compromise multiple hosts and deploy additional malware and tools," the organization  said  in an alert. ACSC didn't disclose the nature of the attacks, how widespread they are, or the identities of the threat actors exploiting them. Tracked as  CVE-2021-35464 , the issue concerns a pre-authentication remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in ForgeRock Access Manager identity and access management tool, and stems from an  unsafe Java deserialization  in the Jato framework used by the software. "An attacker exploiting the vulnerability will execute commands in the context of the current user, not as the root user (unless ForgeRo

SolarWinds, the Texas-based company that became the epicenter of a  massive supply chain attack  late last year, has issued patches to contain a remote code execution flaw in its Serv-U managed file transfer service. The fixes, which target Serv-U Managed File Transfer and Serv-U Secure FTP products, arrive after Microsoft notified the IT management and remote monitoring software maker that the flaw was being exploited in the wild. The threat actor behind the exploitation remains unknown as yet, and it isn't clear exactly how the attack was carried out. "Microsoft has provided evidence of limited, targeted customer impact, though SolarWinds does not currently have an estimate of how many customers may be directly affected by the vulnerability," SolarWinds  said  in an advisory published Friday, adding it's "unaware of the identity of the potentially affected customers." Impacting Serv-U versions 15.2.3 HF1 and before, a successful exploitation of the sh

Multiple security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Philips Clinical Collaboration Platform Portal (aka Vue PACS), some of which could be exploited by an adversary to take control of an affected system. "Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an unauthorized person or process to eavesdrop, view or modify data, gain system access, perform code execution, install unauthorized software, or affect system data integrity in such a way as to negatively impact the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the system," the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)  noted  in an advisory. The 15 flaws impact: VUE Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (versions 12.2.x.x and prior), Vue MyVue (versions 12.2.x.x and prior), Vue Speech (versions 12.2.x.x and prior), and Vue Motion (versions 12.2.1.5 and prior) Four of the issues (CVE-2020-1938, CVE-2018-12326, CVE-2018-11218, CVE-2020-4670, and CVE-2018-8014) have been given a C

Four security vulnerabilities have been uncovered in the  Sage X3  enterprise resource planning (ERP) product, two of which could be chained together as part of an attack sequence to enable adversaries to execute malicious commands and take control of vulnerable systems. These issues were discovered by researchers from Rapid7, who notified Sage Group of their findings on Feb. 3, 2021. The vendor has since rolled out  fixes  in recent releases for Sage X3 Version 9 (Syracuse 9.22.7.2), Sage X3 HR & Payroll Version 9 (Syracuse 9.24.1.3), Sage X3 Version 11 (Syracuse 11.25.2.6), and Sage X3 Version 12 (Syracuse 12.10.2.8) that were shipped in March. The list of vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2020-7388  (CVSS score: 10.0) - Sage X3 Unauthenticated Remote Command Execution (RCE) as SYSTEM in AdxDSrv.exe component CVE-2020-7389  (CVSS score" 5.5) - System "CHAINE" Variable Script Command Injection (No fix planned) CVE-2020-7387  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Sage X3 Ins

This week, PrintNightmare - Microsoft's Print Spooler vulnerability (CVE-2021-34527) was upgraded from a 'Low' criticality to a 'Critical' criticality. This is due to a Proof of Concept published on GitHub, which attackers could potentially leverage for gaining access to Domain Controllers. As we reported earlier , Microsoft already released a patch in June 2021, but it wasn't enough to stop exploits. Attackers can still use Print Spooler when connecting remotely. You can find all you need to know about this vulnerability in this article and how you can mitigate it (and you can).  Print Spooler in a nutshell:  Print Spooler is Microsoft's service for managing and monitoring files printing. This service is among Microsoft's oldest and has had minimal maintenance updates since it was released.  Every Microsoft machine (servers and endpoints) has this feature enabled by default. PrintNightmare vulnerability:  As soon as an attacker gains limited user

Even as Microsoft  expanded patches  for the so-called PrintNightmare vulnerability for Windows 10 version 1607, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2016, it has come to light that the fix for the remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service can be bypassed in certain scenarios, effectively defeating the security protections and permitting attackers to run arbitrary code on infected systems. On Tuesday, the Windows maker issued an  emergency out-of-band update  to address  CVE-2021-34527  (CVSS score: 8.8) after the flaw was accidentally disclosed by researchers from Hong Kong-based cybersecurity firm Sangfor late last month, at which point it emerged that the issue was different from another bug — tracked as  CVE-2021-1675  — that was patched by Microsoft on June 8. "Several days ago, two security vulnerabilities were found in Microsoft Windows' existing printing mechanism," Yaniv Balmas, head of cyber research at Check Point, told The Hack

Microsoft has shipped an  emergency out-of-band security update  to address a critical zero-day vulnerability — known as "PrintNightmare" — that affects the Windows Print Spooler service and can permit remote threat actors to run arbitrary code and take over vulnerable systems. Tracked as  CVE-2021-34527  (CVSS score: 8.8), the remote code execution flaw impacts all supported editions of Windows. Last week, the company warned it had detected active exploitation attempts targeting the vulnerability. "The Microsoft Windows Print Spooler service fails to restrict access to functionality that allows users to add printers and related drivers, which can allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges on a vulnerable system," the CERT Coordination Center said of the issue. It's worth noting that PrintNightmare includes both remote code execution and a local privilege escalation vector that can be abused in attacks to run com

Microsoft on Thursday officially confirmed that the " PrintNightmare " remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting Windows Print Spooler is different from the issue the company addressed as part of its Patch Tuesday update released earlier this month, while warning that it has detected exploitation attempts targeting the flaw. The company is tracking the security weakness under the identifier  CVE-2021-34527 , and has assigned it a severity rating of 8.8 on the CVSS scoring system. All versions of Windows contain the vulnerable code and are susceptible to exploitation. "A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations," Microsoft said in its advisory. "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user righ

A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit related to a remote code execution vulnerability affecting Windows Print Spooler and patched by Microsoft earlier this month was briefly published online before being taken down. Identified as  CVE-2021-1675 , the security issue could grant remote attackers full control of vulnerable systems.  Print Spooler  manages the printing process in Windows, including loading the appropriate printer drivers and scheduling the print job for printing, among others. Print Spooler flaws are concerning, not least because of the wide attack surface, but also owing to the fact that it runs at the highest privilege level and is capable of dynamically loading third-party binaries. The Windows maker addressed the vulnerability as part of its Patch Tuesday update on June 8, 2021. But almost two weeks later, Microsoft revised the flaw's impact from an elevation of privilege to remote code execution (RCE) as well as upgraded the severity level from Important to Crit

Microsoft last week rolled out updates for the Edge browser with  fixes for two security issues , one of which concerns a security bypass vulnerability that could be exploited to inject and execute arbitrary code in the context of any website. Tracked as  CVE-2021-34506  (CVSS score: 5.4), the weakness stems from a universal cross-site scripting (UXSS) issue that's triggered when automatically translating web pages using the browser's  built-in feature via Microsoft Translator . Credited for discovering and reporting CVE-2021-34506 are Ignacio Laurence as well as Vansh Devgan and Shivam Kumar Singh with CyberXplore Private Limited.  "Unlike the common XSS attacks, UXSS is a type of attack that exploits client-side vulnerabilities in the browser or browser extensions in order to generate an XSS condition, and execute malicious code," CyberXplore researchers  said  in a write-up shared with The Hacker News. "When such vulnerabilities are found and exploited,

VMware has rolled out security updates to resolve a critical flaw affecting Carbon Black App Control that could be exploited to bypass authentication and take control of vulnerable systems. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2021-21998, is rated 9.4 out of 10 in severity by the industry-standard Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and affects App Control (AppC) versions 8.0.x, 8.1.x, 8.5.x, and 8.6.x. Carbon Black App Control  is a security solution designed to lock down critical systems and servers to prevent unauthorized changes in the face of cyber-attacks and ensure compliance with regulatory mandates such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, FISMA, and NERC. "A malicious actor with network access to the VMware Carbon Black App Control management server might be able to obtain administrative access to the product without the need to authenticate," the California-based cloud computing and virtualization technology company  said  in an advisory. CVE-2021-21998 is th

U.S. graphics chip specialist NVIDIA has released  software updates  to address a total of 26 vulnerabilities impacting its Jetson system-on-module (SOM) series that could be abused by adversaries to escalate privileges and even lead to denial-of-service and information disclosure. Tracked from CVE‑2021‑34372 through CVE‑2021‑34397, the flaws affect products Jetson TX1, TX2 series, TX2 NX, AGX Xavier series, Xavier NX, and Nano and Nano 2GB running all Jetson Linux versions prior to 32.5.1. The company credited Frédéric Perriot of Apple Media Products for reporting all the issues. The  NVIDIA Jetson  line consists of embedded Linux AI and computer vision compute modules and developer kits that primarily caters to AI-based computer vision applications and autonomous systems such as mobile robots and drones. Chief among the vulnerabilities is CVE‑2021‑34372 (CVSS score: 8.2), a buffer overflow flaw in its  Trusty  trusted execution environment (TEE) that could result in informatio

Google has rolled out yet another update to Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux to fix four security vulnerabilities, including one zero-day flaw that's being exploited in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2021-30554 , the high severity flaw concerns a  use after free vulnerability  in WebGL (aka Web Graphics Library), a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within the browser. Successful exploitation of the flaw could mean corruption of valid data, leading to a crash, and even execution of unauthorized code or commands. The issue was reported to Google anonymously on June 15, Chrome technical program manager Srinivas Sista  noted , adding the company is "aware that an exploit for CVE-2021-30554 exists in the wild." While it's usually the norm to limit details of the vulnerability until a majority of users are updated with the fix, the development comes less than 10 days after Google addressed another zero-day vulnerability exploited in act

Instagram has patched a new flaw that allowed anyone to view archived posts and stories posted by private accounts without having to follow them. "This bug could have allowed a malicious user to view targeted media on Instagram," security researcher Mayur Fartade  said  in a Medium post today. "An attacker could have been able to see details of private/archived posts, stories, reels, IGTV without following the user using Media ID." Fartade disclosed the issue to Facebook's security team on April 16, 2021, following which the shortcoming was patched on June 15. He was also awarded $30,000 as part of the company's bug bounty program. Although the attack requires knowing the media ID associated with an image, video, or album, by brute-forcing the identifiers, Fartade demonstrated that it was possible to craft a POST request to a GraphQL endpoint and retrieve sensitive data. As a consequence of the flaw, details such as like/comment/save count, display_

Cybersecurity researchers on Thursday disclosed as many as ten critical vulnerabilities impacting CODESYS automation software that could be exploited to achieve remote code execution on programmable logic controllers (PLCs). "To exploit the vulnerabilities, an attacker does not need a username or password; having network access to the industrial controller is enough," researchers from Positive Technologies  said . "The main cause of the vulnerabilities is insufficient verification of input data, which may itself be caused by failure to comply with the secure development recommendations." The Russian cybersecurity firm noted that it detected the vulnerabilities on a PLC offered by WAGO, which, among other automation technology companies such as Beckhoff, Kontron, Moeller, Festo, Mitsubishi, and HollySys, use CODESYS software for  programming and configuring  the controllers. CODESYS offers a development environment for programming controller applications for use

Major software vulnerabilities are a fact of life, as illustrated by the fact that Microsoft has patched between 55 and 110 vulnerabilities each month this year – with 7% to 17% of those vulnerabilities being critical. May had the fewest vulnerabilities, with a total of 55 and only four considered critical. The problem is that the critical vulnerabilities are things we have seen for many years, like remote code execution and privilege escalation. Microsoft isn't the only big name regularly patching major vulnerabilities: We see monthly security updates coming from Apple, Adobe, Google, Cisco, and others. Everything old is new again With major vulnerabilities in so many applications, is there any hope for a secure future? The answer is, of course, yes, but that does not mean there won't be challenges getting there. The vulnerabilities being seen may not be new to those of us who have been defending against attackers for years or even decades, but the adversaries continual

A new set of critical vulnerabilities has been disclosed in the Realtek RTL8170C Wi-Fi module that an adversary could abuse to gain elevated privileges on a device and hijack wireless communications. "Successful exploitation would lead to complete control of the Wi-Fi module and potential root access on the OS (such as Linux or Android) of the embedded device that uses this module," researchers from Israeli IoT security firm Vdoo  said  in a write-up published yesterday. The Realtek  RTL8710C  Wi-Fi SoC underpins Ameba, an Arduino-compatible programmable platform equipped with peripheral interfaces for building a variety of IoT applications by devices spanning across agriculture, automotive, energy, healthcare, industrial, security, and smart home sectors. The flaws affect all embedded and IoT devices that use the component to connect to Wi-Fi networks and would require an attacker to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the devices that use the RTL8710C module or know the ne