http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/11/unscheduled-windows-update-kills-critical-security-bug-under-active-attack/
By Dan Goodin
Ars Technica
Nov 18 2014
Microsoft has released an unscheduled update to patch a critical security
hole that is being actively exploited to hack Windows-based servers.
A flaw in the Windows implementation of the Kerberos authentication
protocol allows attackers with credentials for low-level accounts to
remotely hijack extremely sensitive Windows domain controllers that
allocate privileges on large corporate or government networks. The
privilege elevation bug is already being exploited in highly targeted
attacks and gives hackers extraordinary control over vulnerable networks.
"The only way a domain compromise can be remediated with a high level of
certainty is a complete rebuild of the domain," Microsoft engineer Joe
Bialek wrote in a blog post accompanying Thursday's patch. "An attacker
with administrative privilege on a domain controller can make a nearly
unbounded number of changes to the system that can allow the attacker to
persist their access long after the update has been installed. Therefore
it is critical to install the update immediately."
The patch came on the same day that security research firm NSS Labs
reported recently discovering reliable attacks in the wild that exploit
security holes patched by MS14-064, an update released last week. The
exploits use proof-of-concept code also released last week to install
unspecified malware on vulnerable computers, NSS said.
[...]
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