Security News

Microsoft will introduce checkpoint cumulative updates starting in late 2024 for systems running devices running Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11, version 24H2 or later. This new type of update will deliver security fixes and new features via smaller, incremental differentials that include only changes added since the previous checkpoint cumulative update.

Microsoft says the Scattered Spider cybercrime gang has added Qilin ransomware to its arsenal and is now using it in attacks. "In the second quarter of 2024, financially motivated threat actor Octo Tempest, our most closely tracked ransomware threat actor, added RansomHub and Qilin to its ransomware payloads in campaigns," Microsoft said Monday.

Microsoft has finally fixed a known Outlook issue, confirmed in February, which was triggering incorrect security alerts after installing the December security updates for Outlook Desktop. The company acknowledged the bug in early February after many Microsoft 365 users reported seeing unexpected warnings that "This location may be unsafe" and "Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern" when double-clicking ICS calendar files.

An advanced persistent threat group called Void Banshee has been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in the Microsoft MHTML browser engine as a zero-day to deliver an information stealer called Atlantida. "Variations of the Atlantida campaign have been highly active throughout 2024 and have evolved to use CVE-2024-38112 as part of Void Banshee infection chains," security researchers Peter Girnus and Aliakbar Zahravi said.

Microsoft has provided a temporary workaround for a known issue preventing the Microsoft Photos app from launching on some Windows 11 systems. [...]

Exclusive A Microsoft zero-day exploit that Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative team claims it found and reported to Redmond in May was disclosed and patched by the Windows giant in July's Patch Tuesday - but without any credit given to ZDI. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-38112, is in MSHTML - Microsoft's proprietary browser engine for Internet Explorer. This entire series of unfortunate events not only highlights problems with Microsoft's bug reporting program, but also the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process in general, according to Childs.

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Server updates from last month's Patch Tuesday break some Microsoft 365 Defender features that use the network data reporting service. "Devices which have installed Windows Server updates released June 11, 2024 might experience problems with Microsoft 365 Defender," the company explained on the Windows Server health dashboard.

Critical vulnerability in the RADIUS protocol leaves networking equipment open to attackA new critical security vulnerability in the RADIUS protocol, dubbed BlastRADIUS, leaves most networking equipment open to Man-in-the-Middle attacks. Zero-day patched by Microsoft has been exploited by attackers for over a yearCVE-2024-38112, a spoofing vulnerability in Windows MSHTML Platform for which Microsoft has released a fix on Tuesday, has likely been exploited by attackers in the wild for over a year, Check Point researcher Haifei Li has revealed.

Microsoft has resolved a known issue caused by the June 2024 KB5039302 preview update, causing update problems when using Windows Update automation scripts on Windows 11 systems. "After installing the June 2024 Windows preview update, released June 25, 2024 and later updates, you might face issues using Windows Update Agent API from your script while searching for Windows updates," Microsoft explained on Friday.

Two House committee chairs have sent a public letter to the White House asking it to look into a deal between AI R&D outfit G42 and Microsoft. The missive [PDF] to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is authored by Reps Michael McCaul and John Moolenaar, respectively the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party.