a new patch designed to fixVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya failed update which has not prevented the exploit of a severe Webex vulnerability . The original security flaw , CVE-2018-15442 , is present inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythe Cisco Webex Meetings Desktop App for Windows and is describedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityas a bug which `` could allow an authenticated , local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as a privileged user . '' Cisco 's original security update was publishedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin October in order to remedyVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe flaw , in which a lack of validation for user-supplied parameters in the app could be harnessed to exploit the bug . If an attacker is successful in utilizing the vulnerability , they can force the app to run arbitrary commands with user privileges . `` While the CVSS Attack Vector metric denotes the requirement for an attacker to have local access , administrators should be aware that in Active Directory deployments , the vulnerability could be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityremotely by leveraging the operating system remote management tools , '' the company added . Software releases prior to 33.6.4 -- alongside Cisco Webex Productivity Tools Releases 32.6.0 and later prior to 33.0.6 -- are impacted on Windows systems . It was not long after the releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof the first patch that researchers from SecureAuth deemed the original fix incomplete . The original patch only forced the service to run files signed by Webex , but failed to account for DLL-based attacks , according to the team . `` The vulnerability can be exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby copying to a local attacker controller folder , the ptUpdate.exe binary , '' the researchers saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityin an advisory . `` Also , a malicious dll must be placed in the same folder , named wbxtrace.dll . To gain privileges , the attacker must start the service with the command line : sc start webexservice install software-update 1 `` attacker-controlled-path '' ( if the parameter 1 does n't work , then 2 should be used ) . '' These findings were sent to Cisco , which acknowledged the DLL attack method . A new patch was then issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityroughly a week after being informedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityof the issue . `` After an additional attack method was reported to Cisco , the previous fix for this vulnerability was determined to be insufficient , '' Cisco says . `` A new fix was developedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability, and the advisory was updatedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityon November 27 , 2018 , to reflect which software releasesVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityinclude the complete fix . ''
Six months of relative quiet around exploit kits recently changed when a public proof-of-concept attack disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby a Texas startup was integrated into the Sundown Exploit Kit . The proof-of-concept exploit was developedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityby Theori , a research and development firm in Austin , which opened its doors last spring . The PoC targets two vulnerabilities , CVE-2016-7200 and CVE-2016-7201 , in Microsoft Edge that were patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin November in MS16-129 and privately disclosedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityto Microsoft by Google Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich . French researcher Kafeine said on Saturday that he had spotted weaponized versions of the Theori exploits in Sundown two days after they were made public . The payload is most likely the Zloader DLL injector , but Sundown has also moved other malware in the past including banking Trojans such as Zeus Panda and Dreambot , and even Bitcoin mining software . Kafeine said this is the first significant exploit kit activity he ’ s seen in six months . This is the second time a Theori proof-of-concept exploit has ended up in an exploit kit , Kafeine saidVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability, harkening back to CVE-2016-0189 , which was patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin May by Microsoft and yet eventually found its way into Neutrino , RIG , Sundown and Magnitude . Kafeine said he expects other exploit kits to quickly integrate this attack as well , but activity could be slowed by Christmas and New Year holidays in the West , and the recently concluded Russian holiday season . A request for comment from researchers at Theori was not returned in time for publication . In the Readme for the exploits posted to Github , Theori said its PoC was tested on the latest version of Edge running on Windows 10 . The vulnerabilities are in the Chakra JavaScript engine developed for Microsoft in Internet Explorer 9 . The Theori exploits trigger information leak and type confusion vulnerabilities in the browser , leading to remote code execution . The bugs were patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityNov. 8 by Microsoft in a cumulative update for the Edge browser ; Microsoft characterizedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilitythem as memory corruption flaws and rated them both critical for Windows clients and moderate for Windows server . An attacker could also embed an ActiveX control marked ‘ safe for initialization ’ in an application or Microsoft Office document that hosts the Edge rendering engine . The integration of new exploits , however , has slowed significantly since the erasure of Angler and other popular kits from the underground . Angler ’ s disappearance coincided with the June arrests of 50 people in Russia allegedly connected to the development and distribution of the Lurk Trojan . Researchers at Kaspersky Lab who investigated the infrastructure supporting Lurk said there was little doubt that the criminals behind Lurk were also responsible for Angler ’ s constant development and profit-making . Since the end of the summer , however , exploit kit development has all but ended while attackers have returned to large-scale spamming campaigns and a resurgence of macro malware to move attacks along . “ Regarding the why , I don ’ t know for sure , ” Kafeine said . “ Either it ’ s harder to code those , [ or ] those who were providing fully working exploits ( for Angler for instance ) are not anymore into this . “ I think [ exploit kits ] have not been so far behind in years ” . Microsoft patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythis on Nov 8th , bug the huge problem is that whenever you buy a new computer , it doesn ’ t come with that pacth… You have to run the updates once you set up the new computer . And from what I have been finding over the last 6 months , is that the moment you open a brand new laptop with windows 10 and start to try to update it , the vulnerability is wide open for attack . The WORST part is that if you are a regular person not knowing anything about security , and you set up windows 10 with the “ express settings ” the computer is setup to connect to any open wifi hotspot and Bluetooth devices ! So if you live in NYC or any heavy populated area , or your home wifi is already infected by Miria Botnet , you are screwed instantly… I have proof that it is happening to everyone and no one knows it . The internet is going to implode within the next 3-4 months and the government will have to shut it down .