Microsoft informed customers on Monday that it’s working on patches for two Windows zero-day vulnerabilities that can be exploited for remote code execution.
According to Microsoft, the vulnerabilities exist due to the way the Windows Adobe Type Manager library handles a “specially-crafted multi-master font – Adobe Type 1 PostScript format.”
Adobe told SecurityWeek that the impacted library is exclusively supported by Microsoft and Adobe product users are not at risk.
An attacker can exploit the flaws by convincing the targeted user to open a specially crafted document or viewing it in the Windows Preview pane, which has been described as an attack vector for these vulnerabilities.
Microsoft says it’s aware of “limited, targeted attacks” attempting to exploit these vulnerabilities.
The security holes impact Windows 10, 7, 8.1, Server 2008, Server 2012, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server. Microsoft will create a patch for Windows 7, which reached end of life in January, but it will only be made available to users with an Extended Security Update (ESU) license.
Microsoft has suggested that patches will only become available next month, when the company releases its April 2020 updates. In the meantime, users have been provided workarounds for preventing exploitation of the vulnerabilities. The tech giant also pointed out that the impact is limited in the case of Windows 10.
“For systems running supported versions of Windows 10 a successful attack could only result in code execution within an AppContainer sandbox context with limited privileges and capabilities,” Microsoft explained in an advisory.
In January, Microsoft informed customers that it had been working on a patch for an Internet Explorer zero-day exploited in targeted attacks, and the fix was released, as announced, with the February updates. However, in the case of the wormable SMB vulnerability dubbed SMBGhost, a patch was released just two days after the existence of the flaw was made public.
Related: Microsoft Patches 115 Vulnerabilities in Windows, Other Products
Related: Microsoft to Patch Internet Explorer Vulnerability Exploited in Targeted Attacks
Related: Microsoft Patches Windows Zero-Day Exploited in Korea-Linked Attacks
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
More from Eduard Kovacs
- Exploitation of 55 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Came to Light in 2022: Mandiant
- Organizations Notified of Remotely Exploitable Vulnerabilities in Aveva HMI, SCADA Products
- Waterfall Security, TXOne Networks Launch New OT Security Appliances
- Hitachi Energy Blames Data Breach on Zero-Day as Ransomware Gang Threatens Firm
- New York Man Arrested for Running BreachForums Cybercrime Website
- Exploitation of Recent Fortinet Zero-Day Linked to Chinese Cyberspies
- Mozilla Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities With Release of Firefox 111
- Microsoft: 17 European Nations Targeted by Russia in 2023 as Espionage Ramping Up
Latest News
- Google Suspends Chinese Shopping App Amid Security Concerns
- Verosint Launches Account Fraud Detection and Prevention Platform
- Ransomware Gang Publishes Data Allegedly Stolen From Maritime Firm Royal Dirkzwager
- Zoom Paid Out $3.9 Million in Bug Bounties in 2022
- Oleria Scores $8M Seed Funding for ID Authentication Technology
- Exploitation of 55 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Came to Light in 2022: Mandiant
- News Analysis: UK Commits $3 Billion to Support National Quantum Strategy
- Malicious NuGet Packages Used to Target .NET Developers
