Week in review: Microsoft fixes two exploited zero-days, SOC teams are losing trust in security tools

CVE-2024-43047 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the firmware of several Qualcomm connectivity chipsets and the QAM8295P automotive SoC, where maintaining memory maps of high-level operating system (HLOS) memory causes memory corruption. The flaw is scored with a local attack vector and low privileges required (CVSS 3.1: 7.8), so an attacker needs some local foothold, such as a malicious app on an Android device, and can then leverage the memory corruption for high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability effects, in practice a privilege escalation to system or kernel level. Anyone running devices built on the affected chips is exposed, including Android smartphones with FastConnect 6700/6800/6900/7800, devices using QCA-series Wi-Fi chips, and automotive platforms using the QAM8295P. The vulnerability is confirmed exploited in the wild: CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-10-08, and news reports describe targeted, limited Android attacks, though ransomware use is unknown and EPSS remains modest at 0.7%.

Do: Apply Qualcomm's fix through your device or system OEM: install the latest Android security updates on affected phones, and update firmware/drivers for QCA-series Wi-Fi chips and the QAM8295P automotive SoC per vendor instructions; because this is a local firmware flaw, there is no user-side mitigation short of patching. Organizations under CISA KEV must remediate per the required action (apply vendor remediations or discontinue use). Prioritize an inventory of Android devices with FastConnect 6700/6800/6900/7800 and QCA6xxx/65xxx chips, noting this flaw is being used in targeted attacks rather than mass-scale campaigns.

CVE-2024-43573 is a spoofing vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows MSHTML platform, classified as an input-neutralization flaw (CWE-79), that can lead to a loss of confidentiality. It is triggered when a user renders attacker-crafted content through the MSHTML engine, the browser-rendering component embedded in Windows that many system surfaces and applications use to display web-like content, causing content or interface elements to appear to come from a trusted source when they are attacker-controlled. An attacker who successfully exploits it can present spoofed content or prompts that deceive users, potentially leading them to reveal sensitive information such as credentials. All Microsoft Windows systems are affected according to CISA's listing, though no specific version breakdown is provided in the source data. The flaw is confirmed to be exploited in the wild (CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-10-08), EPSS assigns a 44.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile), no public PoC is known, and any ransomware association is listed as unknown.

Do: Apply Microsoft's October 2024 security updates (or later cumulative updates) to all Windows clients and servers as soon as possible, following vendor instructions; per CISA's required action, apply vendor mitigations or discontinue use of the affected platform if mitigations are unavailable. Until patched, exercise caution with unsolicited documents, links, and content rendered through Windows surfaces, and watch for spoofed prompts or user-interface elements. Federal agencies should complete remediation by the KEV due date for this entry.

The Ruby SAML library is for implementing the client side of a SAML authorization. Ruby-SAML in <= 12.2 and 1.13.0 <= 1.16.0 does not properly verify the signature of the SAML Response. An unauthenticated attacker with access to any signed saml document (by the IdP) can thus forge a SAML Response/Assertion with arbitrary contents. This would allow the attacker to log in as arbitrary user within the vulnerable system. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0 and 1.12.3.

CVE-2024-9380 is an OS command injection flaw (CWE-77/CWE-78) in the admin web console of Ivanti Cloud Services Appliance (CSA), fixed in version 5.0.2. A remote attacker who is already authenticated with administrative privileges can inject arbitrary operating system commands through the console, which the appliance then executes. Successful exploitation yields remote code execution with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CVSS 3.1: 7.2). All CSA releases before 5.0.2 are affected, and the widely deployed 4.6.x line has reached End-of-Life, so EOL users must remove it from service or move to 5.0.x or later. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-10-09, and contemporaneous reporting describes Chinese nation-state actors exploiting Ivanti CSA zero-days against French government and telecom targets, with a 63.2% EPSS probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile).

Do: Upgrade Ivanti CSA to 5.0.2 or later; if you are running the End-of-Life 4.6.x line, either remove it from service or migrate to the supported 5.0.x line, per CISA's KEV required action. Restrict exposure of the admin web console (do not leave it directly internet-facing) and verify whether your appliance was targeted. Given reported nation-state exploitation of CSA zero-days, review appliance logs and admin credentials for signs of compromise.

Path traversal in Ivanti CSA before version 5.0.2 allows a remote authenticated attacker with admin privileges to bypass restrictions.

Mozilla Firefox and Firefox ESR contain a use-after-free (CWE-416) in the browser's animation timelines component, which CISA describes as allowing code execution in the content process. The flaw is reachable through malicious web content: a crafted page can manipulate animation timelines so that an in-use object is freed, producing exploitable memory corruption. A successful attacker gains code execution in the content process, the sandboxed process that renders web pages, on the machine of the user who loaded the content. All users of Firefox and Firefox ESR are affected by the flaw itself. It is being actively exploited: the vulnerability was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-10-15 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 23.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (98th percentile).

Do: Apply Mozilla's patched Firefox/Firefox ESR release immediately and verify the running version via the browser's About Firefox dialog, since many installs only pick up auto-updates after a restart (per CISA's required action: apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use). Given the known ransomware use, prioritize enterprise ESR rollout and check for managed-update failures, auto-update-disabled installs, or unmanaged Firefox copies on user machines. Note that no public proof-of-concept is known, but KEV listing confirms exploitation, so patching should not wait for PoC availability.