security updates addressingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya possible avenue for DoS attacks and attackers changing administrator passwords . Samba 4 users should update now . Open source server platform Samba has issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitypatches for two critical vulnerabilities that could be used to launch denial-of-service attacks or allow anyone to change user and administrator passwords . Samba is a free , open source interoperability suite that extends Windows file and print services to Unix and Linux machines . Businesses that run Unix/Linux and Windows side by side frequently use Samba to link the two operating systems together , making any risk to the security and stability of Samba a serious risk . The vulnerabilities in questionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, CVE-2018-1050 and CVE-2018-1057 , are both serious risks for anyone using Samba . If your business has a Samba implementation it 's highly recommended that you install the applicable security updates . What the Samba vulnerabilities can do The first vulnerability , 1050 , affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityall Samba instances version 4.0.0 and up . More specifically , it only affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityversion 4.0.0 and up Samba installations that are also running their Remote Procedure Call ( RPC ) Spool Subsystem Service ( spoolss ) as an external daemon ( RPC spoolss is configured to internal by default ) . If the RPC spoolss misses an input sanitization check it can cause the print spooler to crash , effectively killing the ability for anyone using Samba to send files to a printer . The second vulnerability , 1057 , is a far greater risk to Samba security . Like 1050 , it affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityall Samba installations version 4.0.0 and up and allows users to change the passwords of other users , including those with admin rights . 1057 's problem stems from a problem with how Samba Active Directory domain controllers handle permission validations using the lightweight directory access protocol ( LDAP ) . `` The LDAP server incorrectly validates certain LDAP password modifications against the 'Change Password ' privilege , but then performs a password reset operation , '' Samba said . This vulnerability only affectsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitySamba installations being used as Active Directory domain controllers , so those using Samba in non-domain control roles do n't need to be concerned . If you are using Samba as an AD DC and ca n't install the security patch yet , there is a workaround Samba says you can put in place as a temporary protection measure : revoking password change permissions for `` the world '' group .
Microsoft issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitynumerous bug fixes on its most recent Patch Tuesday , but according to the security firm 0patch , there were issues with one of the flaws for a critical vulnerability . The vulnerability in questionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, ( CVE-2018-8423 ) , is a memory corruption vulnerability that exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe Jet Database Engine that , when exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, allows for remote code execution . 0patch noticed that the patch Microsoft had issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywas flawed as a result of studying the official patch of the Jet Database Engine and a “ micropatch ” that the security researchers had created for the same flaw . They explain this revelation as follows : As expected , the update brought a modified msrd3x40.dll binary : this is the binary with the vulnerability , which we had micropatched with 4 CPU instructions ( one of which was just for reporting purposes ) . The version of msrd3x40.dll changed from 4.0.9801.0 to 4.0.9801.5 and of course , its cryptographic hash also changed - which resulted in our micropatch for this issue no longer getting applied to msrd3x40.dll . So far so good , but the problems became glaring once further analysis began : We BinDiff-ed the patched msrd3x40.dll to its vulnerable version and reviewed the differences . At this point we will only state that we found the official fix to be slightly different to our micropatch , and unfortunately in a way that only limited the vulnerability instead of eliminating it . We promptly notified Microsoft about it and will not reveal further details or proof-of-concept until they issueVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya correct fix . It may be a little frustrating to not know what the problem is from a tech journalist ’ s perspective , but as I am also an “ ethical ” hacker , I totally understand the lack of disclosure on the part of both Microsoft and 0patch . If the flaw is not public knowledge and has not been patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, it makes no sense to hand a cybercriminal the keys to Windows user ’ s machines . What this story shows is how vital the relationship between third-party security researchers and vendors . Without the due diligence of first Trend Micro ’ s ZDI discoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe original flaw , and then 0patch uncoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe secondary flaw in the patch , Microsoft and their customers would be exposed to hackers with bad intentions .
A single SMS can force Samsung Galaxy devices into a crash and reboot loop , and leave the owner with no other option than to reset it to factory settings and lose all data stored on it . This is because there are certain bugs in older Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets that can be triggered via SMS , and used by attackers to force maliciously crafted configuration messages onto the users ’ device . The bugs allow these types of messages to be executed without user interaction . As the ContextIS researchers who discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerabilities explained , this avenue of attack can be abused by crooks to hold users ’ devices for ransom . “ First a ransom note is sent , if ignored then the malicious configuration message can be sent , ” they noted . If the victim pays upAttack.Ransom, a configuration message can later be sent to stop the rebooting . The vulnerabilities in questionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, CVE-2016-7988 and CVE-2016-7989 , can be triggered through SMS on the S4 , S4 Mini , S5 and Note 4 , but not on newer Samsung devices . “ It ’ s worth noting that although newer phones such as the S6 and S7 aren ’ t affected over the air , [ a similar result ] could be accomplished by a malicious app abusing CVE-2016-7988 , ” they addedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. These specific issues are related to modifications Samsung made to to the Android telephony framework and are found in a Samsung-specific application for handling carrier messages . “ We responsibly disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythis to Samsung who handle the patching processVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywith carriers . We extended our standard 90 day disclosure policy to allow Samsung time to arrangeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfor the patches to be made available , ” the researchers told Help Net Security . Whether all users of vulnerable devices have receivedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe patches is difficult to tell . “ The Android update process is a bit of a minefield and is well illustrated in this HTC diagram , ” they commented . They also noted that it ’ s possible that the same avenue of attack could be abused to target other devices – it all depends on how this same technology is handled by other vendors