March 2019 Patch Tuesday

Welcome back to this month’s Patch Tuesday. Yes, it is just another regular Patch Tuesday … wait what? No Adobe Flash Player security fixes? Someone look out the window for blackholes in the sky, this might be a sign of the apocalypse! That said, there were 65 vulnerabilities total patched this month, 18 of which were rated as Critical, with 13 of them being for scripting engines and browser components.

Internet Explorer and Edge

Microsoft’s browsers received the majority of fixes this month. Thirteen of the Critical vulnerabilities revolved around browser and scripting engine exploits, allowing for threat actors to execute arbitrary code by luring victims to maliciously crafted content. Exploits would be able to execute code with the security context of the user.

Windows DHCP Client

There were multiple vulnerabilities fixed for the Windows DHCP Client. Attackers exploiting these vulnerabilities would be able to execute code within the context of the DHCP Client. Microsoft rates these vulnerabilities as Critical and urges that workstation users update as soon as possible.

MS Office

Office was extremely light in fixes this month. There was one vulnerability fixed in SharePoint versions, and one for Office 2010. The SharePoint vulnerability allowed for attackers to tamper with the share, and the Office 2010 vulnerability allowed for attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code within the context of the user. Practicing the principle of least privilege will mitigate these types of vulnerabilities.

Microsoft TFTP Server

Microsoft deployment services contained a vulnerability that allowed for TFTP Servers to execute arbitrary code on the affected host. Attackers would exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious request to the vulnerable host. This vulnerability was rated as Critical by Microsoft.

ActiveX

ActiveX was also patched for a Critical vulnerability. The vulnerability resided in improper object memory handling, allowing for memory corruption that could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code within the security context of the current user. An attack scenario would likely involve using a maliciously hosted site and luring the victim to the site to execute the arbitrary code. Be careful with what you click on!