Security Alert – Microsoft warns of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Windows Defender
09/24/2019 | by Jeff Fowler
Microsoft is urging users of Windows 10 to update immediately. The flaw lies in Internet Explorer and allows an attacker to potentially install software, modify/view/delete data or even create new accounts. The vulnerability was found by a security engineer with Google’s Threat Analysis Group. The update is for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2, and Windows 2008 and 2008 R2. All versions of Internet Explorer that are currently supported were patched. This includes Internet Explorer 9, 10 and 11.
What’s the issue?
In this security bulletin, Microsoft says “A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the scripting engine handles objects in memory in Internet Explorer. The vulnerability could corrupt memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could take control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.
In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit the vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website, for example, by sending an email.
The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying how the scripting engine handles objects in memory.”
What do I need to do?
In order to patch this set of vulnerabilities, you’ll want to manually check for updates to get the latest updates that address CVE-2019-1367 and CVE-2019-1255. To manually search for updates, you can go to Settings > Update & Security. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the cybersecurity experts at SandStorm IT at 901-475-0275.
