Akamai security researcher Tomer Peled explored new ways to use and abuse Microsoft's UI Automation framework and discovered an attack technique that evades endpoint detection and response (EDR).
To exploit this technique, a user must be convinced to run a program that uses UI Automation. This can lead to stealthy command execution, which can harvest sensitive data, redirect browsers to phishing websites, and more.
Detection of this technique is challenging in several ways, including for EDR. All EDR technologies we have tested against this technique were unable to find any malicious activity.
This technique can be used on every Windows endpoint with operating system XP and above.
In this blog post, we provide a full write-up on how to (ab)use the UI Automation framework (including possible attacks that could leverage it) and we present a proof of concept (PoC) for each abuse vector we discuss. We also provide detection and mitigation options.
Oasis Security's research team uncovered a critical vulnerability in Microsoft's Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) implementation, allowing attackers to bypass it and gain unauthorized access to the user’s account, including Outlook emails, OneDrive files, Teams chats, Azure Cloud, and more. Microsoft has more than 400 million paid Office 365 seats, making the consequences of this vulnerability far-reaching.
The bypass was simple: it took around an hour to execute, required no user interaction and did not generate any notification or provide the account holder with any indication of trouble.
This blog post discusses a data exposure risk in Microsoft Power Pages due to misconfigured access controls, highlighting the need for better security and monitoring.
At CYBERWARCON 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence analysts will share research and insights on North Korean and Chinese threat actors representing years of threat actor tracking, infrastructure monitoring and disruption, and their attack tooling.
Since August 2023, Microsoft has observed intrusion activity targeting and successfully stealing credentials from multiple Microsoft customers that is enabled by highly evasive password spray attacks. Microsoft has linked the source of these password spray attacks to a network of compromised devices we track as CovertNetwork-1658, also known as xlogin and Quad7 (7777). Microsoft is […]
Since October 22, 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard sending a series of highly targeted spear-phishing emails to individuals in government, academia, defense, non-governmental organizations, and other sectors. This activity is ongoing, and Microsoft will continue to investigate and provide updates as available. Based on our investigation of previous Midnight […]
ReliaQuest has observed a new Black Basta social engineering campaign targeting users via Microsoft Teams and malicious QR codes.
Microsoft has officially deprecated the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) in future versions of Windows Server, recommending admins switch to different protocols that offer increased security.
#Deprecated #L2TP #Microsoft #PPTP #Server #VPN #Windows
Since mid-April 2024, Microsoft has observed an increase in defense evasion tactics used in campaigns abusing file hosting services like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Dropbox. These campaigns use sophisticated techniques to perform social engineering, evade detection, and compromise identities, and include business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
The simultaneous actions targeted the Star Blizzard espionage operation, which targeted government and civil society around the world.
Microsoft has observed the threat actor tracked as Storm-0501 launching a multi-staged attack where they compromised hybrid cloud environments and performed lateral movement from on-premises to cloud environment, leading to data exfiltration, credential theft, tampering, persistent backdoor access, and ransomware deployment. The said attack targeted multiple sectors in the United States, including government, manufacturing, transportation, and law enforcement. Storm-0501 is a financially motivated cybercriminal group that uses commodity and open-source tools to conduct ransomware operations.
Microsoft has officially announced that Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is now deprecated, but plans to maintain current functionality and continue publishing updates through the channel.
Existing low-level access for security solutions will undergo a rework
Microsoft observed North Korean threat actor Citrine Sleet exploiting the CVE-2024-7971 zero-day vulnerability in Chromium. Citrine Sleet targets the cryptocurrency sector for financial gain.
A vulnerability in Microsoft Copilot Studio could be exploited to access sensitive information on the internal infrastructure used by the service, Tenable reports.
The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-38206 (CVSS score of 8.5) and described as a ‘critical’ information disclosure bug, has been fully mitigated, Microsoft said in an August 6 advisory.
An adversary could exploit these vulnerabilities by injecting malicious libraries into Microsoft's applications to gain their entitlements and user-granted permissions.
Microsoft researchers found multiple vulnerabilities in OpenVPN that could lead to an attack chain allowing remote code execution and local privilege escalation. This attack chain could enable attackers to gain full control over targeted endpoints, potentially resulting in data breaches, system compromise, and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Discover how Iran is allegedly targeting the 2024 US election, the potential impacts, and the measures being taken to safeguard the democratic process.
