Active Directory Bugs Could Let hackers Take Over Windows Domain Controllers
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-42287 +1 in the same advisory: …42278 | Privilege Escalation in Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services CVE-2021-42287 is an elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) affecting multiple supported Windows Server releases. An attacker with any low-privileged domain account can trigger it — commonly in combination with the related sAMAccountName spoofing flaw CVE-2021-42278 — by manipulating account name attributes so the Kerberos Key Distribution Center issues tickets that grant rights normally reserved for domain controllers. The result is escalation from a standard user to domain administrator, giving the attacker full control over the Windows domain, a capability that is directly useful for ransomware deployment and data theft. Any organization running Active Directory on the affected Windows Server versions is exposed, which amounts to essentially every enterprise Windows network. The flaw is actively exploited: it was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-04-11 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 77.2% probability of exploitation within 30 days. Do: Apply Microsoft's security updates to every domain controller — writable and read-only — as soon as possible (the fix shipped in Microsoft's November 2021 security releases), prioritizing internet-exposed and VPN-facing DCs. Hunt domain controller logs for anomalous Kerberos TGT requests by user accounts with domain-controller-style names (a hallmark of CVE-2021-42278/42287 abuse) and monitor for ransomware staging activity, given documented ransomware use. | 7.5 | 77% | KEV ransomware |
| masswell over 100,000 Windows Server domain controllers and millions of domain users worldwide |
Full article321 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse
Ravie LakshmananDec 22, 2021
Microsoft is urging customers to patch two security vulnerabilities in Active Directory domain controllers that it addressed in November following the availability of a proof-of-concept (PoC) tool on December 12.
The two vulnerabilities — tracked as CVE-2021-42278 and CVE-2021-42287 — have a severity rating of 7.5 out of a maximum of 10 and concern a privilege escalation flaw affecting the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) component. Credited with discovering and reporting both the bugs is Andrew Bartlett of Catalyst IT.
Active Directory is a directory service that runs on Microsoft Windows Server and is used for identity and access management. Although the tech giant marked the shortcomings as "exploitation Less Likely" in its assessment, the public disclosure of the PoC has prompted renewed calls for applying the fixes to mitigate any potential exploitation by threat actors.
While CVE-2021-42278 enables an attacker to tamper with the SAM-Account-Name attribute, which is used to log a user into systems in the Active Directory domain, CVE-2021-42287 makes it possible to impersonate the domain controllers. This effectively grants a bad actor with domain user credentials to gain access as a domain admin user.
"When combining these two vulnerabilities, an attacker can create a straightforward path to a Domain Admin user in an Active Directory environment that hasn't applied these new updates," Microsoft's senior product manager Daniel Naim said. "This escalation attack allows attackers to easily elevate their privilege to that of a Domain Admin once they compromise a regular user in the domain."
The Redmond-based company has also provided a step-by-step guide to help users ascertain if the vulnerabilities might have been exploited in their environments. "As always, we strongly advise deploying the latest patches on the domain controllers as soon as possible," Microsoft said.
Found this article interesting? Follow us on Google News, Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2021/12/active-directory-bugs-could-let-hackers.html