Zero-day vulnerability in Windows

Code injection
CVE-2014-6352

Microsoft first received information about this vulnerability through coordinated vulnerability disclosure. Zero-day was initially found and reported to McAfee by James Forshaw of Google Project Zero.

The vulnerability is publicly known as "Sandworm" and has been exploited by the Chinese against Taiwan.

Known malware:

Trojan.Mdropper. (Symantec).

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2014102101 - Remote code execution in Microsoft Windows

Vulnerable component: Windows

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-6352

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-94 - Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

Description:

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The weakness exists due to an error when handling malicious Office files. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted Microsoft Office file containing the malicious OLE object, trick the victim into opening it and execute arbitrary code with privileges of the current user.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.

Known APT campaigns:

BlackTech group

BlackTech group is a cyber espionage group mainly targeting companies in East Asia, particularly Taiwan, and occasionally, Japan and Hong Kong.

The threat group is linked to PLEAD in 2012, Shrouded Crossbow in 2010, and Waterbear cyber operations. To perform attacks BlackTech used a novel right-to-left override (RTLO) technique.

Public Exploits:

- Microsoft Windows - OLE Package Manager Code Execution (MS14-060) (Metasploit) [Exploit-DB]

- Microsoft Windows - OLE Package Manager Code Execution (MS14-064) (Metasploit) [Exploit-DB]

- Microsoft Windows - OLE Remote Code Execution 'Sandworm' Exploit (MS14-060) [Exploit-DB]

- Microsoft Windows - OLE Package Manager SandWorm Exploit [Exploit-DB]

- Microsoft Windows - OLE Package Manager Code Execution (via Python) (MS14-064) (Metasploit) [Exploit-DB]

- Microsoft Office 2007 / 2010 - OLE Arbitrary Command Execution [Exploit-DB]

External links:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms14-064
http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/microsoft-windows-hit-by-new-zero-day-att...
https://malwarelist.net/2014/10/22/cve-2014-6352-critical-vulnerability-in-microsoft-windows/
https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/attackers-circumvent-patch-windows-sandworm-vulnerability
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/22/powerpoint_attacks_exploit_ms_0day/
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2837084/microsoft-misses-windows-bug-hackers-slip-past-patch.ht...
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/10/24/has-the-sandworm-exploit-burrowed-back/
http://www.eweek.com/security/microsoft-patches-33-vulnerabilities-in-november-patch-tuesday-update....
https://techtalk.gfi.com/the-lesson-of-sandworm-patched-but-not-protected/

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.