Microsoft Patch Tuesday - September 2017

Welcome back to this month’s Patch Tuesday. This month patches some usual suspects, with not much out of the ordinary. However, Microsoft did release a large number of fixes for those usual software and firmware suites. In total, over 85 separate vulnerabilities were fixed, if we include the Adobe fixes.

Windows Kernel

The Windows Kernel makes its usual appearance, with four vulnerabilities that need patching. All of these vulnerabilities revolve around the way that objects are handled in Kernel memory. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities would lead to information disclosure that by themselves would not compromise a system, but would assist an attacker seeking to further compromise an already affected system. These vulnerabilities are all rated as Important by Microsoft.

Office

After a few months of relatively quiet fixes for Office, the software suite is back bearing many new vulnerabilities to be fixed. Researchers from organizations such as Google, McAfee, Offensive Security, MSRC, and Cerberus Security exposed so many vulnerabilities that Microsoft released 54 Knowledge Base articles to address them all. If exploited, attackers would be able to Deny Service and Remotely Execute code with privileges equal to that of the current user. The most severe of these vulnerabilities are rated Critical.

Internet Explorer and Edge

As usual, Microsoft’s browsers need some patches for a few vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities range in severity from Critical to Important. Exploiting these vulnerabilities would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the context of the current user. This is yet another reminder that we should exercise the principals of least privilege while browsing the web.

.NET

This month .NET was host to a large number of fixes. Microsoft issued ten Knowledge Base articles for the various fixes to vulnerabilities in .NET. Attackers leveraging these vulnerabilities would be able to Deny Service and Remotely Execute code with privileges equal to that of the current user. The most severe of these vulnerabilities are rated Critical.

Adobe Flash Player

Adobe Flash Player returns with two vulnerabilities. These updates address two critical memory corruption vulnerabilities that could lead to code execution. These vulnerabilities are rated Critical by Microsoft.

Exchange

Exchange requires patching for vulnerabilities this month. An attacker who exploited these vulnerabilities would be able to elevate their privileges or commit spoofing attacks. Typical attack vectors would include social engineering and email containing malicious links. Microsoft rates these vulnerabilities as Important.