Security News > 2021 > March > WSJ: Microsoft Probing Possible PoC Exploit Code Leak

Software giant Microsoft Corp. has launched an investigation to determine whether one of its flagship information-sharing programs sprung a leak that led to the widespread exploitation of Exchange server deployments around the world.

According to a bombshell report in the Wall Street Journal, Redmond is looking closely at its Microsoft Active Protections Program to figure out if an anti-malware partner in China leaked proof-of-concept code ahead of the availability of security updates.

The MAPP program lets Microsoft share vulnerability data to give anti-malware, intrusion prevention/detection and corporate network security vendors a head-start to add signatures and filters to protect against Microsoft software vulnerabilities.

Some of the tools used in the second wave of the attack, which is believed to have begun Feb. 28, bear similarities to "Proof-of-concept" attack code that Microsoft distributed to antivirus companies and other security partners Feb. 23, investigators at security companies say.

Microsoft had planned to release its security fixes two weeks later, on March 9, but after the second wave began it pushed out the patches a week early, on March 2, according to researchers.

One focus of the investigation has been an information-sharing program called the Microsoft Active Protections Program, which was created in 2008 to give security companies a head start in detecting emerging threats.

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