Security News
A threat actor targeted security researchers with fake Windows proof-of-concept exploits that infected devices with the Cobalt Strike backdoor. Threat actors commonly use these exploits to conduct attacks or spread laterally within a network.
Microsoft is testing a new feature in the latest Windows 11 preview build that displays an Internet search box directly on the desktop. The problem is that it does not honor your default browser and only uses Bing and Microsoft Edge instead. This new feature is currently being tested with a small subset of Windows Insiders running the Windows 11 build 25120 on the 'Dev' channel.
Another malicious Python package has been spotted in the PyPI registry performing supply chain attacks to drop Cobalt Strike beacons and backdoors on Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. PyPI is a repository of open-source packages that developers can use to share their work or benefit from the work of others, downloading the functional libraries required for their projects.
On the third and last day of the 2022 Pwn2Own Vancouver hacking contest, security researchers successfully hacked Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system three more times using zero-day exploits. All other contestants hacked their targets, earning $160,000 after taking down Windows 11 three times and Ubuntu Desktop once.
Fraudulent domains masquerading as Microsoft's Windows 11 download portal are attempting to trick users into deploying trojanized installation files to infect systems with the Vidar information stealer malware. "The spoofed sites were created to distribute malicious ISO files which lead to a Vidar info-stealer infection on the endpoint," Zscaler said in a report.
Microsoft has updated the Windows Subsystem for Android in Windows 11 to make telemetry collection optional and announced an upgrade to Android 12.1. "To help us make Windows Subsystem for Android better and provide useful telemetry about Android app usage, please enable this setting in the Windows Subsystem for Android Settings app!".
Microsoft has released out-of-band updates on Thursday evening to address a newly acknowledged issue impacting Microsoft Store apps. This known issue affects devices running Windows 10 where users have installed the KB5011831 optional preview cumulative update or other updates released since April 25th. "After installing KB5011831 or later updates, you might receive an error code: 0xC002001B when attempting to install from the Microsoft Store," Microsoft explained on the Windows health dashboard.
Microsoft has released an out-of-band patch to deal with an authentication issue that was introduced in the May 10 Windows update. Multiple administrators complained last week that after installing the May 10 patch, they experienced authentication failures across several systems.
During the second day of the Pwn2Own Vancouver 2022 hacking competition, contestants hacked Microsoft's Windows 11 OS again and demoed zero-days in Tesla Model 3's infotainment system. A third elevation of privileges zero-day caused by an improper access control bug in Windows 11 was demoed on the second day by T0, with namnp failing to demonstrate a second Windows 11 privilege escalation zero-day within the time allotted.
Microsoft has released emergency out-of-band updates to address Active Directory authentication issues after installing Windows Updates issued during the May 2022 Patch Tuesday on domain controllers. "After installing updates released May 10, 2022 on your domain controllers, you might see authentication failures on the server or client for services such as Network Policy Server, Routing and Remote access Service, Radius, Extensible Authentication Protocol, and Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol," Microsoft explained.