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mmpcMsft-mmpcMMPC:69455AB621A495CAB62392B8DB0987B3
HistorySep 12, 2017 - 6:46 p.m.

Exploit for CVE-2017-8759 detected and neutralized

2017-09-1218:46:50
msft-mmpc
blogs.technet.microsoft.com
3240

7.8 High

CVSS3

Attack Vector

LOCAL

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

NONE

User Interaction

REQUIRED

Scope

UNCHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

9.3 High

CVSS2

Access Vector

NETWORK

Access Complexity

MEDIUM

Authentication

NONE

Confidentiality Impact

COMPLETE

Integrity Impact

COMPLETE

Availability Impact

COMPLETE

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

0.97 High

EPSS

Percentile

99.7%

The September 12, 2017 security updates from Microsoft include the patch for a previously unknown vulnerability exploited through Microsoft Word as an entry vector. Customers using Microsoft advanced threat solutions were already protected against this threat.

The vulnerability, classified as CVE-2017-8759, was used in limited targeted attacks and reported to us by our partner, FireEye. Microsoft would like to thank FireEye for responsibly reporting this vulnerability and for working with us to protect customers.

Customers receiving automatic updates for Microsoft products are protected from this attack without any additional action required. Customers not enjoying the benefits of automatic updates should consider immediately applying this month’s updates to avoid unnecessary exposure.

Office 365 ATP and Windows Defender ATP customers protected

Customers running Microsoft advanced threat solutions such as Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection or Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection were safe from this attack without the need of additional updates. The security configuration and reduced attack surface of Windows 10 S blocks this attack by default.

Office 365 ATP blocked the malicious attachments automatically in customer environments that have adopted the mail detonation and filtering solution. The attachment was blocked based on the detection of the malicious behaviors, as well as its similarity with previous exploits. SecOps personnel would see an ATP behavioral detection in Office 365’s Threat Explorer page:

Figure 1. Block reasons for the exploit attachment as seen in Office 365 ATP console

Windows Defender ATP was also able to raise multiple alerts related to post-exploitation activities performed by this exploit using scripting engines and PowerShell. Additional alerts may also be visible for subsequent stages of the attack performed after malware installation.

In addition, Windows Defender Antivirus detects and blocks exploits for this vulnerability as Exploit:RTF/Fitipol.A, Behavior:Win32/Fitipol.A, and Exploit:RTF/CVE-2017-8759.A using the cloud protection service, which delivers near-real-time protection against such never-before-seen threats.

Figure 2. Windows Defender ATP alerts raised for CVE-2017-8759 zero-day exploit

Protection with Windows Defender Exploit Guard

We are also happy to share with customers testing our upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update that Windows Defender Exploit Guard was also able to prevent this attack using one of the many Attack Surface Reduction rules and exploit protection features.

Figure 3. Example of exploit blocking event logged by Windows Defender Exploit Guard

Windows Defender Exploit Guard is part of the defense-in-depth protection in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update release.

Another zero-day leading to FinFisher

The CVE-2017-8759 vulnerability can allow remote code execution after users open a spam email, and double-click on an untrusted attachment and disable the Microsoft Office Protected View mode. The exploit uses Microsoft Word as the initial vector to reach the real vulnerable component, which is not related to Microsoft Office and which is responsible for certain SOAP-rendering functionalities through .NET classes.

For more information on this new campaign our partner FireEye has a good technical blog describing the infection mechanism and the details of the exploit.

After the initial notification from FireEye, Windows Defender telemetry revealed very limited usage of this zero-day exploit. The attacker used this exploit to deploy a spyware detected as Wingbird and also known to the security community as “FinFisher”, a commercial surveillance package often seen combined with expensive zero-day vulnerabilities and used by sophisticated actors.

Microsoft researchers believe that the adversary involved in this operation could be linked to the NEODYMIUM group, which has used similar zero-day exploits with spear-phishing attachments combined with the usage of FinFisher spyware. We previously reported about the NEODYMIUM group in the Windows Security blog in 2016. For additional information about this new attack as well as other NEODYMIUM attacks, we encourage ATP customers to review the in-product Threat Intelligence reports on this activity group.

Elia Florio

Windows Defender ATP Research Team

Related blog posts

Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection defense for corporate networks against recent Office exploit attacks

Twin zero-day attacks: PROMETHIUM and NEODYMIUM target individuals in Europe


Talk to us

Questions, concerns, or insights on this story? Join discussions at the Microsoft community.

Follow us on Twitter @MMPC and Facebook Microsoft Malware Protection Center

7.8 High

CVSS3

Attack Vector

LOCAL

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

NONE

User Interaction

REQUIRED

Scope

UNCHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

9.3 High

CVSS2

Access Vector

NETWORK

Access Complexity

MEDIUM

Authentication

NONE

Confidentiality Impact

COMPLETE

Integrity Impact

COMPLETE

Availability Impact

COMPLETE

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

0.97 High

EPSS

Percentile

99.7%

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