Microsoft Tells Azure Users to Update PowerShell to Patch Vulnerability

Microsoft has told Azure users to update PowerShell — if they are using versions 7.0 or 7.1 — to address a remote code execution vulnerability patched earlier this year.

The tech giant has advised customers who manage their Azure resources using affected versions of the PowerShell task automation solution to update to versions 7.0.6 or 7.1.3. The updated version should be installed “as soon as possible.” Windows PowerShell 5.1 is not impacted.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-26701 and rated high severity, was fixed by Microsoft in February with its Patch Tuesday updates. The issue exists in .NET 5 and .NET Core due to how text encoding is performed.

In its advisory for CVE-2021-26701, Microsoft says the flaw has been publicly disclosed but assigned it an exploitability rating of “exploitation less likely,” which indicates that “while exploit code could be created, an attacker would likely have difficulty creating the code, requiring expertise and/or sophisticated timing, and/or varied results when targeting the affected product.”

The advisory was released in February, but PowerShell 7.0 and 7.1 were only added to the list of impacted products in May.

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