Microsoft Temporarily Disables MSIX App Installers to Prevent Malware Abuse

CVE-2021-43890 is a spoofing vulnerability in the AppX Installer (App Installer) component of Microsoft Windows that allows a specially crafted package to masquerade as a trusted application. Triggering it requires user interaction: an attacker distributes a malicious installer package or ms-appinstaller link, typically via phishing, and must convince the user to open it, with impact limited to the privileges of the affected account. Successful exploitation delivers malware — Microsoft observed the Emotet, Trickbot and BazaLoader families in these attacks — and the flaw has also been used in ransomware campaigns, with users operating with administrative rights facing greater impact than low-privileged users. Essentially any Windows system relying on App Installer is affected; the exact affected build ranges are not enumerated in the advisory data, though contemporaneous headlines characterized it as an actively exploited Windows 10 zero-day addressed in the December 2021 Patch Tuesday. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: CISA added it to KEV on 2021-12-15 with known ransomware use (EPSS 10.3% / 95th percentile), and in late 2023 Microsoft Threat Intelligence reported renewed abuse of the ms-appinstaller URI scheme and disabled that protocol by default in the updated App Installer.

Do: Apply Microsoft's security updates per the vendor advisory (December 2021 Windows updates) and install the updated App Installer using the Microsoft Store links in the advisory. Verify the updated App Installer is in place and that the ms-appinstaller protocol handler is disabled — it is disabled by default in the December 27, 2023 App Installer update. Because exploitation depends on users opening crafted packages, prioritize patching systems where users run with administrative rights and remind users to treat app-installer links and attachments arriving via email or chat with caution.