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Security Flaw in Pre-Installed Dell Support Software Affects Million of Computers

Security Flaw in Pre-Installed Dell Support Software Affects Million of Computers

Jun 21, 2019
Dell's SupportAssist utility that comes pre-installed on millions of Dell laptops and PCs contains a security vulnerability that could allow malicious software or rogue logged-in users to escalate their privileges to administrator-level and access sensitive information. Discovered by security researchers at SafeBreach Labs , the vulnerability, identified as CVE-2019-12280, is a privilege-escalation issue and affects Dell's SupportAssist application for business PCs (version 2.0) and home PCs (version 3.2.1 and all prior versions). Dell SupportAssist, formerly known as Dell System Detect, checks the health of your system's hardware and software, alerting customers to take appropriate action to resolve them. To do so, it runs on your computer with SYSTEM-level permissions. With this high-level privileges, the utility interacts with the Dell Support website and automatically detects Service Tag or Express Service Code of your Dell product, scans the existing device d
Pre-Installed Software Flaw Exposes Most Dell Computers to Remote Hacking

Pre-Installed Software Flaw Exposes Most Dell Computers to Remote Hacking

May 02, 2019
If you use a Dell computer, then beware — hackers could compromise your system remotely. Bill Demirkapi, a 17-year-old independent security researcher, has discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Dell SupportAssist utility that comes pre-installed on most Dell computers . Dell SupportAssist , formerly known as Dell System Detect , checks the health of your computer system's hardware and software. The utility has been designed to interact with the Dell Support website and automatically detect Service Tag or Express Service Code of your Dell product, scan the existing device drivers and install missing or available driver updates, as well as perform hardware diagnostic tests. If you are wondering how it works, Dell SupportAssist in the background runs a web server locally on the user system, either on port 8884, 8883, 8886, or port 8885, and accepts various commands as URL parameters to perform some-predefined tasks on the computer, like collecting
Dell Resets All Customers' Passwords After Potential Security Breach

Dell Resets All Customers' Passwords After Potential Security Breach

Nov 29, 2018
Multinational computer technology company Dell disclosed Wednesday that its online electronics marketplace experienced a "cybersecurity incident" earlier this month when an unknown group of hackers infiltrated its internal network. On November 9, Dell detected and disrupted unauthorized activity on its network attempting to steal customer information, including their names, email addresses and hashed passwords. According to the company, the initial investigation found no conclusive evidence that the hackers succeeded to extract any information, but as a countermeasure Dell has reset passwords for all accounts on Dell.com website whether the data had been stolen or not. Dell did not share any information on how hackers managed to infiltrate its network at the first place or how many user accounts were affected, but the company did confirm that payment information and Social Security numbers were not targeted. "Credit card and other sensitive customer information
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Webinar: How to streamline security reviews with Trust Center

websiteVantaCompliance / Security Audit
Learn how Vanta Trust Center can help provide real-time evidence for passing controls and automate responses to security questionnaires.
The Ultimate SaaS Security Posture Management Checklist, 2025 Edition

The Ultimate SaaS Security Posture Management Checklist, 2025 Edition

May 22, 2024SaaS Security / Threat Detection
Since the first edition of  The Ultimate SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) Checklist  was released three years ago, the corporate SaaS sprawl has been growing at a double-digit pace. In large enterprises, the number of SaaS applications in use today is in the hundreds, spread across departmental stacks, complicating the job of security teams to protect organizations against evolving threats. As SaaS security becomes a top priority, enterprises are turning to SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) as an enabler. The  2025 Ultimate SaaS Security Checklist , designed to help organizations choose an SSPM, covers all the features and capabilities that should be included in these solutions. Before diving into each attack surface, when implementing an SSPM solution, it's essential to cover a breadth of integrations, including out-of-the-box and custom app integrations, as well as in-depth security checks. While there are apps that are more sensitive and complex to secure, a breach c
Dell's Laptops are Infected with 'Superfish-Like' pre-installed Malware

Dell's Laptops are Infected with 'Superfish-Like' pre-installed Malware

Nov 24, 2015
Similar to the Superfish malware that surrounded Lenovo laptops in February, another big computer manufacturer Dell spotted selling PCs and laptops pre-installed with a rogue SSL certificate that could allow attackers: To impersonate as any HTTPS-protected website and spy on when banking or shopping online. The rogue certificate, dubbed eDellRoot , was first discovered over the weekend by a software programmer named Joe Nord . The certificate is so creepy that it automatically re-installs itself even when removed from the Windows operating system. Also Read:  Lenovo Caught Using Rootkit to Secretly Install Unremovable Software Superfish 2.0: Unkillable Zombie The self-signed transport layer security (TLS) credential came pre-installed as a root certificate on Dell PCs and laptops that are signed with the same private cryptographic key, which is stored locally. That means an attacker with moderate technical skills can extract the key and abuse it to sign fo
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