Delving deep into VBScript

In late April we found and wrote a description of CVE-2018-8174, a new zero-day vulnerability for Internet Explorer that was picked up by our sandbox. The vulnerability uses a well-known technique from the proof-of-concept exploit CVE-2014-6332 that essentially "corrupts" two memory objects and...

New macro-less technique to distribute malware

One of the most common and effective infection vectors, especially for businesses, is the use of malicious Office documents. This year alone, we witnessed two zero-days for both Flash and the VBScript engine, which were first actually embedded into Office documents before gaining wider adoption i...

Two Zero-Day Exploits Found After Someone Uploaded 'Unarmed' PoC to VirusTotal

Security researchers at Microsoft have unveiled details of two critical and important zero-day vulnerabilities that had recently been discovered after someone uploaded a malicious PDF file to VirusTotal, and get patched before being used in the wild. In late March, researchers at ESET found a...

Two Zero-Day Exploits Found After Someone Uploaded 'Unarmed' PoC to VirusTotal

Security researchers at Microsoft have unveiled details of two critical and important zero-day vulnerabilities that had recently been discovered after someone uploaded a malicious PDF file to VirusTotal, and get patched before being used in the wild. In late March, researchers at ESET found a...

Taking apart a double zero-day sample discovered in joint hunt with ESET

In late March 2018, I analyzed an interesting PDF sample found by ESET senior malware researcherAnton Cherepanov. The sample was initially reported to Microsoft as a potential exploit for an unknown Windows kernel vulnerability. During my investigation in parallel with ESET researchers, I was...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of June 25, 2018

I have never reverse engineered anything, but I did dismantle a Betamax VCR and put it back together without an instruction manual. My little brother liked to use the tape slot as a garage for his Hot Wheels® toy cars. We were usually able to take out the cars without any issues, but one day, he...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of June 18, 2018

As I pull together the list of zero-day filters for this blog, I see all types of vulnerabilities from various vendors. My interest is always piqued when I see a vulnerability affecting a security company. The Zero Day Initiative’s ZDI interest was also piqued when the researcher Pagefault...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of June 11, 2018

As a native Texan, I’ve seen more than my fair share of bugs - actual physical bugs that love the hot, humid Texas climate and my curly hair for some reason. The Zero Day Initiative ZDI sees many bugs of the software variety, including those that affect SCADA control systems. Fritz Sands recently...

Exploit kits: Spring 2018 review

Since our last report on exploit kits, there have been some new developments with the wider adoption of the February Flash zero-day, as well as the inclusion of a new exploit for Internet Explorer. We have not seen that many changes in the drive-by landscape for a long time, although these are th...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of June 4, 2018

It was a busy day yesterday, with Adobe issuing four emergency patches for their Flash Player, including one for a zero-day being actively exploited in the wild. Adobe has indicated that CVE-2018-5002 was discovered being used in limited, targeted attacks on Windows users in the wild. The attacks...

Adobe Patches Zero-Day Flash Flaw

Adobe has released an emergency update to address a critical security hole in its Flash Player browser plugin that is being actively exploited to deploy malicious software. If you've got Flash installed -- and if you're using Google Chrome or a recent version of Microsoft Windows you do -- it's...

Adobe Issues Patch for Actively Exploited Flash Player Zero-Day Exploit

If you have already uninstalled Flash player, well done! But if you haven't, here's another great reason for ditching it. Adobe has released a security patch update for a critical vulnerability in its Flash Player software that is actively being exploited in the wild by hackers in targeted attack...

Adobe Issues Patch for Actively Exploited Flash Player Zero-Day Exploit

If you have already uninstalled Flash player, well done! But if you haven't, here's another great reason for ditching it. Adobe has released a security patch update for a critical vulnerability in its Flash Player software that is actively being exploited in the wild by hackers in targeted attack...

Researchers Warn of Microsoft Zero-Day RCE Bug

Researchers have discovered a medium-severity Windows vulnerability that enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary code – and Microsoft hasn’t issued a patch yet. The flaw, which was first discovered by Dmitri Kaslov of Telspace Systems, exists within the handling of error objects in JScript,...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of May 28, 2018

I ended up at an urgent care clinic earlier this week and found out I have strep throat. The doctor who examined me asked me what medicine I had taken prior to my visit to help alleviate my throat pain, to which I replied, “I took a multi-symptom liquid medicine because the pain was keeping me...

CentOS 7 : libvorbis (CESA-2018:1058)

An update for libvorbis is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System CVSS base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from...

TippingPoint Threat Intelligence and Zero-Day Coverage – Week of May 21, 2018

Not that I needed to the reminder, but the influx of emails with the subject line “Updates to our Privacy Policy” from companies that I deal with and some that I’ve never heard of! means that TODAY is the day! The General Data Protection Regulation GDPR has officially taken effect. Originally...

Hackers are exploiting a new zero-day flaw in GPON routers

Even after being aware of various active cyber attacks against the GPON Wi-Fi routers, if you haven't yet taken them off the Internet, then be careful—because a new botnet has joined the GPON party, which is exploiting an undisclosed zero-day vulnerability in the wild. Security researchers from...

Hackers are exploiting a new zero-day flaw in GPON routers

Even after being aware of various active cyber attacks against the GPON Wi-Fi routers, if you haven't yet taken them off the Internet, then be careful—because a new botnet has joined the GPON party, which is exploiting an undisclosed zero-day vulnerability in the wild. Security researchers from...

Adobe Reader zero-day discovered alongside Windows vulnerability

During the first half of 2018, we have witnessed some particularly interesting zero-day exploits, including one for Flash CVE-2018-4878 and more recently for Internet Explorer CVE-2018-8174. The former was quickly used by exploit kits such as Magnitude, while it is only a matter of time before we...