Patch Tuesday September 2018

Welcome back to this month’s Patch Tuesday. Microsoft has patched 61 vulnerabilities this month, including several that had details disclosed prior to patching, and one “zero-day” vulnerability in Windows that was actively being exploited was also patched. The bulk of the vulnerabilities focus on web browsers. Also, of note, this month was the first month that Windows 2008 Server systems switched to the rollup system, like the rest of their Windows OS cousins.

Internet Explorer and Edge

Microsoft’s browsers received a host of fixes this month. For Internet Explorer, three vulnerabilities were rated as Critical. For Edge, eight vulnerabilities were rated as Critical. Attackers may be able to execute arbitrary code by luring a victim to a website hosting maliciously crafted content. Attackers would gain the same user rights as the current user.

Kernel

An active zero-day vulnerability, CVE-2018-8440, was patched this month. The vulnerability stems from the way that Windows handles Advanced Local Procedure Calls (ALPC). An attacker could run a specially crafted application to take over an affected system, allowing them to elevate their privileges from a less-privileged account. Since this vulnerability is actively being exploited in the wild, administrators are urged to update as soon as possible.

Office

Office received fixes for eight vulnerabilities this month. One of them, CVE-2018-8332, allowed for remote code execution that would give the attacker full control over the system. The vulnerability resides in the embedded font library, where an application parsing the maliciously crafted font would enter a vulnerable state and allow attackers to execute their code. Microsoft has rated this vulnerability as Critical.

Adobe Flash Player

A single Adobe Flash Player vulnerability was fixed this month. Microsoft rates the vulnerability as Critical, whereas Adobe rates the vulnerability as Important. The vulnerability allows for information disclosure, exposing memory contents that could potentially be sensitive or leveraged by an attacker in a further attack.

.Net Framework

Microsoft’s .NET Framework also received many fixes this month. One of the vulnerabilities was rated as Critical. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability would be able to remotely execute arbitrary code with rights equal to that of the current user. This is a reminder once again to exercise the principals of least-privilege, in order to protect ourselves from these kinds of attacks.