Security News
Some users have complained that the Windows security update released recently by Microsoft to patch a wormable vulnerability related to Server Message Block 3.0 is causing problems. Microsoft released an out-of-band update for Windows 10 and Windows Server on March 12 to fix CVE-2020-0796, a vulnerability that can allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on SMB servers and clients.
In the case of the critical Windows 10 Server Message Block vulnerability left unpatched in March's otherwise bumper Windows Patch Tuesday update, the answer is two days. That's how long it took Microsoft to change its mind about releasing a fix after news of the remote code execution flaw leaked in now-deleted vendor posts and word spread to customers.
Microsoft has released out-of-band updates for Windows to patch a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Server Message Block 3.0 that has been described as "Wormable." The vulnerability, related to the way SMB 3.1.1 handles certain requests, can be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on SMB servers and clients.
"To exploit the vulnerability against an SMB Server, an unauthenticated attacker could send a specially crafted packet to a targeted SMBv3 Server. To exploit the vulnerability against an SMB Client, an unauthenticated attacker would need to configure a malicious SMBv3 Server and convince a user to connect to it." Unlike the Microsoft Windows SMB Server flaws used by the EternalBlue and EternalRomance exploits, which were leveraged for the 2017 WannaCry and NotPetya outbreaks, CVE-2020-0796 only affects SMBv3 and does not affect Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 systems.
A critical crown court IT system and thousands of laptops used by the UK's Ministry of Justice run on Microsoft's obsolete and unsupported Windows XP operating system, The Register can reveal. As recently as March 2019, the ministry was paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for a VPN to support 2,000 Windows XP laptop users - news that comes as the department admits that a critical court IT system is also running on XP boxen.
Shortly after releasing its monthly batch of security updates, Microsoft late yesterday separately issued an advisory warning billions of its Windows users of a new critical, unpatched, and wormable vulnerability affecting Server Message Block 3.0 network communication protocol. It appears Microsoft originally planned to fix the flaw as part of its March 2020 Patch Tuesday update only for some reason, it pulled the plug at the last minute, which apparently did not stop a tech company from accidentally leaking the existence of the unpatched flaw.
Shortly after releasing its monthly batch of security updates, Microsoft late yesterday separately issued an advisory warning billions of its Windows users of a new critical, unpatched, and wormable vulnerability affecting Server Message Block 3.0 network communication protocol. It appears Microsoft originally planned to fix the flaw as part of its March 2020 Patch Tuesday update only for some reason, it pulled the plug at the last minute, which apparently did not stop a tech company from accidentally leaking the existence of the unpatched flaw.
Microsoft Word RCE A Remote Code Execution vulnerability in Microsoft Word is also covered in today's patch release. "We start with CVE-2020-0684, a Remote Code Execution vulnerability that exists in Windows 7 through 10 and Windows Server 2008 through 2019. The vulnerability exists in the way Windows processes.LNK files. In order to exploit this vulnerability an attacker would need to trick a victim into clicking on a.LNK file to a remote share or a removable drive that contained malware."
Automated tools exist to ensure that your Windows servers stay as secure and trouble-free as the day they were set up. Here is a simple set of management principles that are easy to implement at any budget and skill level to help your IT department take hold of its Windows servers and make sure they are managed efficiently and securely, while being optimized to deliver the best performance possible.
Microsoft has released PowerShell 7, the latest major update to its popular task automation tool and configuration management framework that can be used on various operating systems. PowerShell was initially a Windows component, but was open-sourced in 2016 and made available for Windows, macOS and various Linux distributions.