the coding flaw and sharedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya fix for it , raising questions about why Equifax did n't updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityits software successfully when the danger became known . A week after Equifax revealed one of the largest breachesAttack.Databreachof consumers ' private financial data in history — 143 million consumers and accessAttack.Databreachto the credit-card data of 209,000 — the industry group that manages the open source software in which the hack occurred blamed Equifax . `` The Equifax data compromiseAttack.Databreachwas due to ( Equifax 's ) failure to install the security updates providedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin a timely manner , '' The Apache Foundation , which oversees the widely-used open source software , said in a statement Thursday . Equifax told USA TODAY late Wednesday the criminals who gained accessAttack.Databreachto its customer data exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya website application vulnerability known asVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityApache Struts CVE-2017-5638 . The vulnerability was patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityon March 7 , the same day it was announcedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, The Apache Foundation said . Cybersecurity professionals who lend their free services to the project of open-source software — code that 's shared by major corporations and that 's tested and modified by developers working at hundreds of firms — had shared their discovery with the industry group , making the risk and fix known to any company using the software . Modifications were made on March 10 , according to the National Vulnerability Database . But two months later , hackers took advantage of the vulnerability to enter the credit reporting agency 's systems : Equifax said the unauthorized access began in mid-May . Equifax did not respond to a question Wednesday about whether the patches were appliedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, and if not , why not . `` We continue to work with law enforcement as part of our criminal investigation and have shared indicators of compromise with law enforcement , '' it said . It should have have acted faster to successfully deal with the problem , other cybersecurity professionals said . `` They should have patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityit as soon as possible , not to exceed a week . A typical bank would have patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis critical vulnerability within a few days , ” said Pravin Kothari , CEO of CipherCloud , a cloud security company . Federal regulators are now investigating whether Equifax is at fault . The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have said they 've opened probes into the hack . So far dozens of state attorneys general are investigating the breach , and on Tuesday Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said she plans to sue the company for violating state consumer protection laws . More than 23 class-action lawsuits against the company have also been proposed . Proof that Equifax failed to protect customers , particularly when it had the tools and information to do so , is likely to further damage Equifax 's financial outlook . Shares fell 2.5 % Thursday after news of the FTC probe and are down 33 % since it revealed the link .
Intel revealedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat it will not be issuingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitySpectre patches to a number of older Intel processor families , potentially leaving many customers vulnerable to the security exploit . Intel claims the processors affected are mostly implemented as closed systems , so they aren ’ t at risk from the Spectre exploit , and that the age of these processors means they have limited commercial availability . The processors which Intel won ’ t be patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityinclude four lines from 2007 , Penryn , Yorkfield , and Wolfdale , along with Bloomfield ( 2009 ) , Clarksfield ( 2009 ) , Jasper Forest ( 2010 ) and the Intel Atom SoFIA processors from 2015 . According to Tom ’ s Hardware , Intel ’ s decision not to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese products could stem from the relative difficulty of patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe Spectre exploit on older systems . “ After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products , Intel has determined to not releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymicrocode updates for these products , ” Intel said . Because of the nature of the Spectre exploit , patches for it need to be deliveredVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityas an operating system or BIOS update , and if Microsoft and motherboard OEMs aren ’ t going to distributeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe patches , developingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythem isn ’ t much of a priority . “ However , the real reason Intel gave up on patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythese systems seems to be that neither motherboard makers nor Microsoft may be willing to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysystems sold a decade ago , ” Tom ’ s Hardware reports . It sounds bad , but as Intel pointed out , these are all relatively old processors — with the exception of the Intel Atom SoFIA processor , which came out in 2015 — and it ’ s unlikely they ’ re used in any high-security environments . The Spectre exploit is a serious security vulnerability to be sure , but as some commentators have pointed out in recent months , it ’ s not the kind of exploit the average user needs to worry about . “ We ’ ve now completed releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof microcode updates for Intel microprocessor products launched in the last 9+ years that required protection against the side-channel vulnerabilities discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Google Project Zero , ” said an Intel spokseperson . “ However , as indicated in our latest microcode revision guidance , we will not be providingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityupdated microcode for a select number of older platforms for several reasons , including limited ecosystem support and customer feedback. ” If you have an old Penryn processor toiling away in an office PC somewhere , you ’ re probably more at risk for a malware infection arising from a bad download than you are susceptible to something as technically sophisticated as the Spectre or Meltdown vulnerabilities .
Researchers foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythree vulnerabilities in Foscam connected security cameras that could enable a bad actor to gain root access knowing only the camera ’ s IP address . Foscam is urging customers to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitytheir security cameras after researchers foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythree vulnerabilities in that could enable a bad actor to gain root access knowing only the camera ’ s IP address . The vulnerability trifecta includes an arbitrary file-deletion bug , a shell command-injection flaw and a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability according to the researchers at VDOO who foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaws . The proof-of-concept attack revolved around a process in the cameras called webService , which receives requests from servers and can be used to verify the user ’ s credentials , if necessary , and run the handler for the desired API command . To launch an attack , an attacker would have to obtainAttack.Databreachthe camera ’ s IP address or DNS name . Generally if the camera is configured so that it has direct interface to the internet , its address might be exposedAttack.Databreachto certain internet scanners . The PoC attacker then crashed the webService process by exploiting the stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability ( CVE-2018-6832 ) . After it crashes , the webService process automatically restarts via the watchdog daemon ( which restarts important processes after they ’ re terminated ) , and during the process reload , an attacker could leverage a second flaw , the arbitrary file-deletion vulnerability ( CVE-2018-6830 ) , to delete certain critical files . This will result in authentication bypass when the webService process reloads ; so that the bad actor is able to gain administrative credentials . From there , an attacker could use the third vuln ( CVE-2018-6831 ) to execute root commands . This bug is a shell command-injection vulnerability that requires administrator credentials . “ Since the adversary gained administrator credentials in the previous stage , he can now use this vulnerability to execute commands as the root user for privilege escalation , ” researchers said . The Internet of Things continues to post a significant problem as many connected devices lack proper security controls . The 2016 Mirai botnet attack , which was orchestrated as a distributed denial of service attack through 300,000 vulnerable IoT devices like webcams , routers and video recorders , showed just how big of an impact the lack of IoT security has . The patches also come afterVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityreports of a hacked baby camera emerged last week , when a woman from South Carolina said a stranger hacked into her baby monitor to spy on her and her family . These IoT security incidents show not only that connected products are highly vulnerable to security hacks , but also that such hacks could mean a complete invasion of privacy at the most personal level . Foscam , for its part , urged customers to upgradeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitytheir cameras as soon as possible , saying that “ the latest firmware for Foscam cameras utilizes protection against various types of online hacking and unauthorized access. ” It added , “ Foscam is fully committed to maintaining the safety and integrity of our user experience and will take all action reasonably necessary to ensure the privacy and security of our cameras . ”
Oracle is advising customers to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitytheir database software following the discoveryVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityand disclosureVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityof a critical remote code execution vulnerability . The flaw , dubbed CVE-2018-3110 was given a CVSS base score of 9.9 ( out of 10 ) and Oracle warnsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythat successful exploit of the bug `` can result in complete compromise of the Oracle Database and shell access to the underlying server . '' `` Due to the nature of this vulnerability , Oracle strongly recommends that customers take action without delay , '' Oracle says . Vulnerable versions of Database Server include 11.2.0.4 , 12.1.0.2 , 12.2.0.1 , and 18 . Admins are advised to install Oracle 's update as soon as possible . No credit was given for discovery or reporting . The flaw itself is foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin the JavaVM component of Oracle Database Server and is not considered a remote code exploit flaw , as it requires the attacker have a connection to the server via Oracle Net , the protocol Oracle servers use to connect with client applications . Other than that , however , there is little else required for a successful attack that gives complete control over the host server . The Oracle patch will only pile on to what is going to be a busy week for IT departments and administrators . In addition to this fixVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, Microsoft is releasingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityits monthly Patch Tuesday security update for Windows , Office , and Internet Explorer/Edge today , and Adobe has postedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfixes for security holes in Flash Player , Acrobat/Reader , Creative Cloud , and Experience manager . Our advice is to keep a pot of coffee handy and reserve a table at the pub for when this is all over with .
11th December was Microsoft ’ s December 2018 Patch Tuesday , which means users had to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitytheir computers to be protected from the latest threats to Windows and Microsoft products . Microsoft has fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability39 vulnerabilities , with 10 of them being labeled as Critical . Keeping up with its December 2018 Patch Tuesday , Microsoft announcedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityon its blog that a vulnerability exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityWindows Domain Name System ( DNS ) . There was not much information provided to the customers about how and when this vulnerability was discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability. The following details were released by Microsoft : The Exploit Microsoft Windows is proneVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto a heap-based buffer-overflow vulnerability . A remote code execution vulnerability exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityWindows Domain Name System ( DNS ) servers when they fail to properly handle requests . An attacker who successfully exploitsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythis issue may execute arbitrary code within the context of the affected application . Microsoft states that failed exploit attempts will result in a denial-of-service condition . Windows servers that are configured as DNS servers are at risk from this vulnerability . Affected Systems Find a list of the affected systems on Microsoft ’ s Blog . The company has also providedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityusers with security updates for the affected systems . Workarounds and Mitigations As of today , Microsoft has not identified any workarounds or mitigations for the affected systems . Jake Williams , the founder of Rendition Security and Rally security , posted an update on Twitter about the issue , questioning why there is no sufficient discussion among the infosec community about the matter .
Yesterday , Oracle releasedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityits quarterly critical patch update ( CPU ) for Q3 2018 , the October edition , during which the company fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability301 vulnerabilities . Of the 301 flaws , 45 had a severity rating of 9.8 ( on a scale of 10 ) and one even received the maximum 10 rating . Vulnerabilities that receive this severity ratings this high can be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityremotely , with no authentication , and the exploit chain is accessible even to low-skilled attackers , even to those with no in-depth technical knowledge . Oracle 's security team will publish more information about each vulnerability in the coming days . This will give companies more time to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityaffected applications before details about each flaw are generally availableVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto everyone , including the bad guys . For now , little information is known , but the vulnerability that received the 10.0 rating impactsVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityOracle GoldenGate , a data replication framework that can work with large quantities of information in real-time . This issue doesn't impactVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitystandalone GoldenGate installations , but also the numerous other Oracle product setups where GoldenGate can be deployed as an add-in option , such as the Oracle Database Server , DB2 , MySQL , Sybase , Terradata , and others . As for vulnerabilities rated 9.8 on the severity scale , these were reported affectingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityproducts such as the Oracle Database Server , Oracle Communications , the Oracle Construction and Engineering Suite , the Oracle Enterprise Manager Products Suite , Oracle Fusion Middleware , Oracle Insurance Applications , Oracle JD Edwards , MySQL , Oracle Retail , the Oracle Siebel CRM , and the Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite . Despite the staggering number of patched flaws -- 301 -- , this is n't Oracle 's biggest recorded CPU . That title goes to July 2018 's CPU , which addressedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability334 vulnerabilities , 55 of which had a 9.8 severity rating . This was also Oracle 's last CPU for 2018 . According to the folks at ERPScan , in 2018 , Oracle patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability1119 vulnerabilities , the same number of flaws it patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitylast year in 2017 .
A Google Project Zero researcher has published a macOS exploit to demonstrate that Apple is exposing its users to security risks by patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityserious flaws in iOS but not revealing the fact until it fixesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe same bugs in macOS a week later . This happened during Apple 's updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfor critical flaws in iOS 12 , tvOS 12 and Safari 12 on September 17 . A Wayback Machine snapshot of the original advisory does n't mentionVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityany of the bugs that Project Zero researcher Ivan Fratric had reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto Apple , and which were actually fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. Then , a week later , after Apple patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe same bugs in macOS , the company updatedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityits original advisory with details about the nine flaws that Fratric had reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, six of which affectedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitySafari . The update fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya Safari bug that allowed arbitrary code execution on macOS if a vulnerable version of Safari browsed to a website hosting an exploit for the bugs . While Fratric concedes that Apple is probably concealingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe fix in iOS to buy time to patchVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitymacOS , he argues the end result is that people may ignore an important security update because they were n't properly informed by Apple in the security advisory . `` This practice is misleading because customers interested in the Apple security advisories would most likely read them only once , when they are first released and the impression they would get is that the product updates fix far fewer vulnerabilities and less severe vulnerabilities than is actually the case . '' Even worse , a skilled attacker could use the update for iOS to reverse-engineer a patch , develop an exploit for macOS , and then deploy it against a macOS user-base that does n't have a patch . Users also do n't know that Apple has released information that could make their systems vulnerable to attack . Fratric developed an exploit for one of the Safari bugs he reported and publishedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe attack on Thursday . The bugs were all foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityusing a publicly available fuzzing tool he developed , called Domato , meaning anyone else , including highly advanced attackers , could use it too . `` If a public tool was able to find that many bugs , it is expected that private ones might be even more successful , '' he noted . He was n't aiming to write a reliable or sophisticated exploit , but the bug is useful enough for a skilled exploit writer to develop an attack to spread malware and `` potentially do a lot of damage even with an unreliable exploit '' . Fratric said he successfully tested the exploit on Mac OS 10.13.6 High Sierra , build version 17G65 . `` If you are still using this version , you might want to update , '' noted Fratric . On the upside , it appears Apple and its Safari WebKit team have improved the security of the browser compared with the results of Fratric 's Domato fuzzing efforts last year , which turned up way more bugs in Safari than in Chrome , Internet Explorer , and Edge . Last year he foundVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability17 Safari flaws using the fuzzing tool . His final word of warning is not to discount any of the bugs he found just because no one 's seen them being attacked in the wild . `` While it is easy to brush away such bugs as something we have n't seen actual attackers use , that does n't mean it 's not happening or that it could n't happen , '' the researcher noted .
A new iPhone and a new iOS are here , but a number of bugs , and security flaws , have frustrated early adopters . iOS 12.0.1 , Apple 's first update after the release of iOS 12 , has patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitytwo vulnerabilities that could have allowed a user to bypass a device 's passcode . Spanish hacker Jose Rodriguez was able to use Siri to enable VoiceOver mode , which could pull up the phone 's contacts . You can see the specifics of his ( very complicated ) procedure in the video below . Apple also says it has fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya bug that caused the new iPhones to stop charging when their screens turned off . This was n't an issue our review unit had , but it was noted throughout multiple forums and message boards . The company has fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya number of smaller bugs as well . A bug that caused the phone to automatically join 2.4-GHz networks rather than 5 GHz networks , a bug that sometimes caused Bluetooth to become unavailable , and a bug that blocked subtitles from appearing in some video apps are no longer . iPad users were n't left out , either . To some users ' chagrin , the original iOS 12 moved the `` 123 '' key closer to the center of the iPad keyboard . You can breathe easy again : The key has moved back to the far left . The update should be availableVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto all users now . If you do n't have automatic updates enabled , we recommend you updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto the new patch ASAP if you 've experienced any of these flaws , or are worried about hackers obtaining your phone .
A security bug in Systemd can be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityover the network to , at best , potentially crash a vulnerable Linux machine , or , at worst , execute malicious code on the box . The flaw therefore puts Systemd-powered Linux computers – specifically those using systemd-networkd – at risk of remote hijacking : maliciously crafted DHCPv6 packets can try to exploit the programming cockup and arbitrarily change parts of memory in vulnerable systems , leading to potential code execution . This code could install malware , spyware , and other nasties , if successful . The vulnerability – which was made publicVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythis week – sits within the written-from-scratch DHCPv6 client of the open-source Systemd management suite , which is built into various flavors of Linux . This client is activated automatically if IPv6 support is enabled , and relevant packets arrive for processing . Thus , a rogue DHCPv6 server on a network , or in an ISP , could emit specially crafted router advertisement messages that wake up these clients , exploit the bug , and possibly hijack or crash vulnerable Systemd-powered Linux machines . Here 's the Red Hat Linux summary : systemd-networkd is vulnerableVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto an out-of-bounds heap write in the DHCPv6 client when handling options sent by network adjacent DHCP servers . A attacker could exploit this via malicious DHCP server to corrupt heap memory on client machines , resulting in a denial of service or potential code execution . Felix Wilhelm , of the Google Security team , was credited with discoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaw , designated CVE-2018-15688 . Wilhelm found that a specially crafted DHCPv6 network packet could trigger `` a very powerful and largely controlled out-of-bounds heap write , '' which could be used by a remote hacker to inject and execute code . `` The overflow can be triggered relatively easy by advertising a DHCPv6 server with a server-id > = 493 characters long , '' Wilhelm noted . In addition to Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux , Systemd has been adopted as a service manager for Debian , Fedora , CoreOS , Mint , and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server . We 're told RHEL 7 , at least , does not use the vulnerable component by default . Systemd creator Lennart Poettering has already publishedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya security fix for the vulnerable component – this should be weaving its way into distros as we type . If you run a Systemd-based Linux system , and rely on systemd-networkd , updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityyour operating system as soon as you can to pick up the fix when availableVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityand as necessary . The bug will come as another argument against Systemd as the Linux management tool continues to fight for the hearts and minds of admins and developers alike . Though a number of major admins have in recent years adopted and championed it as the replacement for the old Init era , others within the Linux world seem to still be less than impressed with Systemd and Poettering 's occasionally controversial management of the tool .
Overall , the chip giant patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfive vulnerabilities across an array of its products . Intel on Tuesday patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythree high-severity vulnerabilities that could allow the escalation of privileges across an array of products . Overall , the chip giant fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfive bugs – three rated high-severity , and two medium-severity . The most concerning of these bugs is an escalation-of-privilege glitch in Intel ’ s PROset/Wireless Wi-Fi software , which is its wireless connection management tool . The vulnerability , CVE-2018-12177 , has a “ high ” CVSS score of 7.8 , according to Intel ’ s update . “ Intel is releasingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysoftware updates to mitigateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis potential vulnerability , ” it said , urging users to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto version 20.90.0.7 or later of the software . The vulnerability , reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Thomas Hibbert of Insomnia Security , stems from improper directory permissions plaguing the software ’ s ZeroConfig service in versions before 20.90.0.7 . The issue could allow an authorized user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access . The other high-severity bug exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe company ’ s System Support Utility for Windows , which offers support for Intel-packed Windows device users . This bug ( CVE-2019-0088 ) is due to insufficient path checking in the support utility , allowing an already-authenticated user to potentially gain escalation of privilege via local access . The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 . Versions of System Support Utility for Windows before 2.5.0.15 are impactedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability; Intel recommendsVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityusers updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto versions 2.5.0.15 or later . Independent security researcher Alec Blance was credited with discoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaw . The chip-maker also patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya high-severity and medium-severity flaw in its Software Guard Extensions ( SGX ) platform and software , which help application developers to protect select code and data from disclosure or modification . “ Multiple potential security vulnerabilities in Intel SGX SDK and Intel SGX Platform Software may allow escalation of privilege or information disclosure , ” saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityIntel . The high-severity flaw in SGX ( CVE-2018-18098 ) has a CVSS score of 7.5 and could allow an attacker with local access to gain escalated privileges . The vulnerability is rooted inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityimproper file verification in the install routine for Intel ’ s SGX SDK and Platform Software for Windows before 2.2.100 . It was discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby researcher Saif Allah ben Massaoud . Another vulnerability in the platform ( CVE-2018-12155 ) is only medium in severity , but could allow an unprivileged user to cause information disclosure via local access . That ’ s due to data leakageAttack.Databreachin the cryptographic libraries of the SGX platform ’ s Integrated Performance Primitives , a function that provides developers with building blocks for image and data processing . And finally , a medium escalation of privilege vulnerability in Intel ’ s SSD data-center tool for Windows has been patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. “ Improper directory permissions in the installer for the Intel SSD Data Center Tool for Windows before v3.0.17 may allow authenticated users to potentially enable an escalation of privilege via local access , ” saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityIntel ’ s update . The company recommends users update to v3.0.17 or later . Intel ’ s patch comesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityduring a busy patch Tuesday week , which includes fixes from Adobe and Microsoft .
Overall , the chip giant patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfive vulnerabilities across an array of its products . Intel on Tuesday patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythree high-severity vulnerabilities that could allow the escalation of privileges across an array of products . Overall , the chip giant fixedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityfive bugs – three rated high-severity , and two medium-severity . The most concerning of these bugs is an escalation-of-privilege glitch in Intel ’ s PROset/Wireless Wi-Fi software , which is its wireless connection management tool . The vulnerability , CVE-2018-12177 , has a “ high ” CVSS score of 7.8 , according to Intel ’ s update . “ Intel is releasingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysoftware updates to mitigateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis potential vulnerability , ” it said , urging users to updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto version 20.90.0.7 or later of the software . The vulnerability , reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Thomas Hibbert of Insomnia Security , stems from improper directory permissions plaguing the software ’ s ZeroConfig service in versions before 20.90.0.7 . The issue could allow an authorized user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access . The other high-severity bug exists inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe company ’ s System Support Utility for Windows , which offers support for Intel-packed Windows device users . This bug ( CVE-2019-0088 ) is due to insufficient path checking in the support utility , allowing an already-authenticated user to potentially gain escalation of privilege via local access . The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 . Versions of System Support Utility for Windows before 2.5.0.15 are impactedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability; Intel recommendsVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityusers updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto versions 2.5.0.15 or later . Independent security researcher Alec Blance was credited with discoveringVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe flaw . The chip-maker also patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya high-severity and medium-severity flaw in its Software Guard Extensions ( SGX ) platform and software , which help application developers to protect select code and data from disclosure or modification . “ Multiple potential security vulnerabilities in Intel SGX SDK and Intel SGX Platform Software may allow escalation of privilege or information disclosure , ” saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityIntel . The high-severity flaw in SGX ( CVE-2018-18098 ) has a CVSS score of 7.5 and could allow an attacker with local access to gain escalated privileges . The vulnerability is rooted inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityimproper file verification in the install routine for Intel ’ s SGX SDK and Platform Software for Windows before 2.2.100 . It was discoveredVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby researcher Saif Allah ben Massaoud . Another vulnerability in the platform ( CVE-2018-12155 ) is only medium in severity , but could allow an unprivileged user to cause information disclosure via local access . That ’ s due to data leakageAttack.Databreachin the cryptographic libraries of the SGX platform ’ s Integrated Performance Primitives , a function that provides developers with building blocks for image and data processing . And finally , a medium escalation of privilege vulnerability in Intel ’ s SSD data-center tool for Windows has been patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. “ Improper directory permissions in the installer for the Intel SSD Data Center Tool for Windows before v3.0.17 may allow authenticated users to potentially enable an escalation of privilege via local access , ” saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityIntel ’ s update . The company recommends users update to v3.0.17 or later . Intel ’ s patch comesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityduring a busy patch Tuesday week , which includes fixes from Adobe and Microsoft .
A remote hijacking flaw that lurked in Intel chips for seven years was more severe than many people imagined , because it allowed hackers to remotely gain administrative control over huge fleets of computers without entering a password . This is according to technical analyses published Friday . Further ReadingIntel patchesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityremote hijacking vulnerability that lurked in chips for 7 years . As Ars reportedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityMonday , the authentication bypass vulnerability resides inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitya feature known as Active Management Technology . AMT , as it 's usually called , allows system administrators to perform a variety of powerful tasks over a remote connection . Among the capabilities : changing the code that boots up computers , accessing the computer 's mouse , keyboard , and monitor , loading and executing programs , and remotely powering on computers that are turned off . In short , AMT makes it possible to log into a computer and exercise the same control enjoyed by administrators with physical access . AMT , which is available with many vPro processors , was set up to require a password before it could be remotely accessed over a Web browser interface . But , remarkably , that authentication mechanism can be bypassed by entering no text at all . According to a blog post published Friday by Tenable Network Security , the cryptographic hash that the interface 's digest access authentication requires to verify someone is authorized to log in can be anything at all , including no string at all . `` Authentication still worked '' even when the wrong hash was entered , Tenable Director of Reverse Engineering Carlos Perez wrote . `` We had discovered a complete bypass of the authentication scheme . '' A separate technical analysis from Embedi , the security firm Intel credited with first disclosingVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe vulnerability , arrived at the same conclusion . Embedi e-mailed the analysis to reporters , but did n't publish it online . Making matters worse , unauthorized accesses typically are n't logged by the PC because AMT has direct access to the computer 's network hardware . When AMT is enabled , all network packets are redirected to the Intel Management Engine and from there to the AMT . The packets bypass the OS completely . The vulnerable management features were made available in some but not all Intel chipsets starting in 2010 , Embedi has said . In a blog post published Friday , Intel officials said they expect PC makers to releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch next week . The releases will updateVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityIntel firmware , meaning patchingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitywill require that each vulnerable chip set is reflashed . In the meantime , Intel is urging customers to download and run this discovery tool to diagnose potentially vulnerable computers . Systems that test positive should be temporarily secured using this mitigation guide until a patch is suppliedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability. Computer makers Fujitsu , HP , and Lenovo , have also issued advisories for specific models they sell .