Security News

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has warned Windows users that a recently released proof-of-concept exploit for the vulnerability tracked as SMBGhost has been abused to launch attacks. The flaw affects Windows 10 and Windows Server and it can be exploited for denial-of-service attacks, local privilege escalation, and arbitrary code execution.

A proof-of-concept exploit has been made public for a recently patched vulnerability in OpenSSL that can be exploited for denial-of-service attacks. OpenSSL versions 1.1.1d, 1.1.1e and 1.1.1f are affected by a high-severity vulnerability that has been described as a segmentation fault in the SSl check chain function.

Proof-of-concept exploits have been released for two recently patched Remote Desktop Gateway vulnerabilities that can be exploited for remote code execution. Remote Desktop Gateway is a Windows Server component previously known as Terminal Services Gateway.

Last week, Threatpost conducted a reader poll and almost 60 percent of 230 security pundits thought it was a "Good idea" to publish PoC code for zero days. Joseph Carson, chief security scientist at Thycotic, told Threatpost that while he thinks PoC exploits can have a positive impact, "It is also important to include what defenders can do to reduce the risks such a methods to harden systems or best practices."

The practice of disclosing proof-of-concept exploits has long caused a debate in the security community. Just this past week, a slew of PoC exploits were published for various vulnerabilities, including ones for a recently patched crypto-spoofing vulnerability found by the National Security Agency and reported to Microsoft; and for critical flaws impacting the Cisco Data Center Network Manager tool for managing network platforms and switches.

Tom: Well, yeah, I will say that in a situation when you have a zero day or you have an unpatched vulnerability, I could make an argument that it is irresponsible and you know the disclosure of a PoC might be better suited for a bad channel as opposed to a chest-beating researcher who just wants some fame and maybe not so much fortune. I think it was called Cable Haunt and it was in multiple cable modems that are used by ISPs to provide broadband into homes so you know what's going on there?

Proof-of-concept exploit code has been published for critical flaws impacting the Cisco Data Center Network Manager tool for managing network platforms and switches. The three critical vulnerabilities in question impact DCNM, a platform for managing Cisco data centers that run Cisco's NX-OS - the network operating system used by Cisco's Nexus-series Ethernet switches and MDS-series Fibre Channel storage area network switches.

A researcher who discovered many vulnerabilities in Cisco's Data Center Network Manager product has made public some proof-of-concept exploits and technical details. In early January, Cisco informed customers that it had released updates for DCNM to address several critical and high-severity vulnerabilities.

Two proof-of-concept exploits have been publicly released for the recently-patched crypto-spoofing vulnerability found by the National Security Agency and reported to Microsoft. The two PoC exploits were published to GitHub on Thursday.

Several proof-of-concept exploits have already been created - and some of them have been made public - for CVE-2020-0601, the crypto-related Windows vulnerability that Microsoft patched recently after being notified by the U.S. National Security Agency. Currently, there is no evidence that the vulnerability has been exploited in attacks, but PoC exploits have been created for CVE-2020-0601 much faster than many had anticipated.