Windows: Microsoft fixes no fewer than 73 vulnerabilities, including 5 major critical flaws

It’s a particularly extensive Patch Tuesday that Microsoft deployed this week. The window firm fixes 73 Windows vulnerabilities, including 5 considered critical, and 2 zero-day flaws.

After correcting around fifty vulnerabilities last month, February’s Patch Tuesday is a particularly busy year, with no less than 73 vulnerabilities corrected. Among them, note two zero-days currently in operation, which make it possible to bypass Windows SmartScreen protections, and above all 5 critical breaches. Microsoft specifically warns users about potential risks and code execution attacks.

Two Windows zero day vulnerabilities that allow you to bypass security features

Microsoft therefore announced the correction of two zero-day vulnerabilities. We will remind here that these are unresolved vulnerabilities which are already exploited by hackers, before developers and the public notice them.

So on the menu here, two flaws of this type. The first, referenced CVE-2024-21351, is a vulnerability that allows a malicious actor to inject code into SmartScreen. Successful exploitation could lead to data exposure or even system interruptions.

The CVE-2024-21412 flaw allows an attacker to bypass security controls by sending a specially crafted file to a targeted user. More specifically, it is a security feature bypass vulnerability of internet shortcut files. Although cybercriminals need to persuade users to open the file, these flaws pose significant risks. They would be operated by the Water Hydra group, which would target financial market traders.

Several critical flaws fixed

The hackers were also able to exploit the vulnerabilities CVE-2024-20684 (denial of service vulnerability in Windows Hyper-V), CVE-2024-21357 (remote code execution in Windows), CVE-2024-21380 (disclosure Information in Microsoft Dynamics Business Central), CVE-2024-21410 (Microsoft Exchange Server Elevation of Privilege), and CVE-2024-21413 (Remote Code Execution in Microsoft Outlook).

The last two mentioned reach a severity score of 9.8. The flaw referenced CVE-2024-21410, which concerns an elevation of privileges in Microsoft Exchange Server, could for example lead to the disclosure of a user’s NTLM (New Technology LAN Manager) hash, allowing the attacker to authenticate by as a targeted user.

To all this we will add around fifteen fixes linked to remote execution vulnerabilities in Microsoft WDAC (Windows Defender Application Control) OLE DB for SQL Server. These vulnerabilities could be exploited by an attacker to trick an authenticated user into connecting to a malicious SQL server via OLE DB. The patch is complemented by another, which resolves the breach CVE-2023-50387, relating to a 24-year-old design flaw in DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) which could be exploited to cause denial of address attacks. service.

Source : The Hacker News