Security News

Microsoft's identity services huddle under Entra umbrella
2022-05-31 17:45

Microsoft has whipped out the rebranding team once more, and chosen the name "Entra" as a catch-all for the company's identity and access capabilities. Sadly nothing to do with the sometimes-missed Encarta, the encyclopaedia launched by Microsoft back in the 1990s and eventually killed off in the first decade of the twenty-first century, Entra is not so much about squinting at postage stamp-sized bits of video and more about Azure Active Directory and Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management.

Microsoft Releases Workarounds for Office Vulnerability Under Active Exploitation
2022-05-31 10:53

Microsoft on Monday published guidance for a newly discovered zero-day security flaw in its Office productivity suite that could be exploited to achieve code execution on affected systems. Microsoft Office versions Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 2019, and Office 2021, as well as Professional Plus editions, are impacted.

Microsoft shares mitigation for Office zero-day exploited in attacks
2022-05-31 09:18

Microsoft has shared mitigation measures to block attacks exploiting a newly discovered Microsoft Office zero-day flaw abused in the wild to execute malicious code remotely. The bug is a Microsoft Windows Support Diagnostic Tool remote code execution vulnerability reported by crazyman of the Shadow Chaser Group.

Zero-day vuln in Microsoft Office: 'Follina' will work even when macros are disabled
2022-05-30 18:01

Infosec researchers have idenitied a zero-day code execution vulnerability in Microsoft's ubiquitous Office software. Dubbed "Follina", the vulnerability has been floating around for a while and uses Office functionality to retrieve a HTML file which in turn makes use of the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool to run some code.

Zero-Day ‘Follina’ Bug Lays Microsoft Office Open to Attack
2022-05-30 14:53

A zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Office allows adversaries to run malicious code on targeted systems via a flaw a remote Word template feature. Noted security researcher Kevin Beaumont dubbed the vulnerability "Follina", explaining the zero day code references the Italy-based area code of Follina - 0438.Beaumont said the flaw is abusing the remote template feature in Microsoft Word and is not dependent on a typical macro-based exploit path, common within Office-based attacks.

New Microsoft Office zero-day used in attacks to execute PowerShell
2022-05-30 14:23

Security researchers have discovered a new Microsoft Office zero-day vulnerability that is being used in attacks to execute malicious PowerShell commands via Microsoft Diagnostic Tool simply by opening a Word document.The vulnerability, which has yet to receive a tracking number and is referred to by the infosec community as 'Follina,' is leveraged using malicious Word documents that execute PowerShell commands via the MSDT. This new Follina zero-day opens the door to a new critical attack vector leveraging Microsoft Office programs as it works without elevated privileges, bypasses Windows Defender detection, and does not need macro code to be enabled to execute binaries or scripts.

Watch Out! Researchers Spot New Microsoft Office Zero-Day Exploit in the Wild
2022-05-30 08:44

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a zero-day flaw in Microsoft Office that could be abused to achieve arbitrary code execution on affected Windows systems. According to security researcher Kevin Beaumont, who dubbed the flaw "Follina," the maldoc leverages Word's remote template feature to fetch an HTML file from a server, which then makes use of the "Ms-msdt://" URI scheme to run the malicious payload. MSDT is short for Microsoft Support Diagnostics Tool, a utility that's used to troubleshoot and collect diagnostic data for analysis by support professionals to resolve a problem.

Microsoft: The new Windows 11 features from Build 2022
2022-05-28 19:53

During the Build 2022 developer conference, Microsoft announced a number of new features for Windows 11, including an improved Windows Subsystem for Android and more. Microsoft is upgrading the Android OS within the subsystem to Android 12L and adding support for advanced networking, so your mobile apps can easily communicate with devices outside the virtualization environment.

Microsoft Finds Critical Bugs in Pre-Installed Apps on Millions of Android Devices
2022-05-28 01:37

Four high severity vulnerabilities have been disclosed in a framework used by pre-installed Android System apps with millions of downloads. "As it is with many of pre-installed or default applications that most Android devices come with these days, some of the affected apps cannot be fully uninstalled or disabled without gaining root access to the device," the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team said in a report published Friday.

Microsoft finds severe bugs in Android apps from large mobile providers
2022-05-27 17:06

Microsoft security researchers have found high severity vulnerabilities in a framework used by Android apps from multiple large international mobile service providers. "The apps were embedded in the devices' system image, suggesting that they were default applications installed by phone providers," according to security researchers Jonathan Bar Or, Sang Shin Jung, Michael Peck, Joe Mansour, and Apurva Kumar of the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team.