Security Alert

Patch Tuesday – 9 critical CVEs & 2 zero-day vulnerabilities

In this article:

For March, Microsoft released 76 CVEs new patches which is still more than expected for the third month of 2023. Out of all patches released, 9 are rated critical and 2 have been seen exploited in the wild. It’s also a bit unusual that half of them are addressing remote code execution (RCE) bugs. 

Let’s take a closer look at the most interesting updates for this month. 

Notable Critical Microsoft Vulnerabilities

Windows Hyper-V Denial of Service Vulnerability:

  • CVE-2023-23411 is a Denial of Service Vulnerability affecting Hyper-V. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow a Hyper-V guest to affect the functionality of the Hyper-V host. 

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability:   

  • CVE-2023-23415 is a RCE vulnerability affecting ICMP that could be exploited by attackers through the use of a low-level protocol error containing a fragmented IP packet embedded with another ICMP packet in the header, directed towards the target machine. To activate the vulnerable code path, an application on the target system must be bound to a raw socket. 

Windows Point-to-Point (P2P) Tunneling Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

  • CVE-2023-23404 is a RCE affecting P2P tunneling protocol. An unauthenticated attacker has the potential to exploit this vulnerability by sending a connection request specially crafted to a remote access server (RAS). This could potentially lead to a remote code execution on the targeted RAS machine.

Windows Cryptographic Services Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

  • CVE-2023-23416 is a RCE Vulnerability that can be exploited if a malicious certificate is imported on an affected system. It has been rated as “less likely exploitable” because an attacker could achieve this by either uploading a certificate to a service that processes or imports certificates, or by persuading an authenticated user to import into their system.    

HTTP Protocol Stack Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

  • CVE-2023-23392 is another RCE Vulnerability affecting HTTP Protocol Stack in Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022. By utilizing the HTTP Protocol Stack (http.sys) to process packets, an unauthenticated attacker could send a specifically tailored packet to the targeted server.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

  • CVE-2023-21708 is a RCE Vulnerability impacting RPC that could result in remote code execution on the server-side with the same permissions as the operating RPC service.   

TPM2.0 Module Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability 

  • CVE-2023-1017 and CVE-2023-1018 are affecting the TPM2.0 Module Library. An out-of-bound write vulnerability allows the writing of a 2-byte data past the end of TPM2.0 command in the CryptParameterDecryption routine. If successfully exploited, an attacker can execute arbitrary code in the TPM context that can lead to denial of service by crashing the TPM chip/process or rendering it inoperable. 

An actively exploited zero-day vulnerability covered by Runecast Analyzer is CVE-2023-24880 which is rated as Moderate and affects Windows SmartScreen. An attacker can craft a malicious file that would evade Mark of the Web (MOTW) defenses, resulting in a limited loss of security features like Protected View in Microsoft Office which depend on MOTW tagging. Microsoft explained: “When you download a file from the internet, Windows adds the zone identifier or Mark of the Web as an NTFS stream to the file. So, when you run the file, Windows SmartScreen checks if there is a zone identifier Alternate Data Stream (ADS) attached to the file. If the ADS indicates ZoneId=3 which means that the file was downloaded from the internet, the SmartScreen does a reputation check.”

It is highly recommended to keep all systems up to date in order to mitigate or minimize the risk of an unfortunate event.

Details of all 76 vulnerabilities are shown in the table below.

Tag

CVE ID

CVE Title

Severity

Role: Windows Hyper-V

CVE-2023-23411

Windows Hyper-V Denial of Service Vulnerability

Critical

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)

CVE-2023-23415

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical

Remote Access Service Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

CVE-2023-23404

Windows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical

Windows Cryptographic Services

CVE-2023-23416

Windows Cryptographic Services Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical

Windows HTTP Protocol Stack

CVE-2023-23392

HTTP Protocol Stack Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical

Windows Remote Procedure Call

CVE-2023-21708

Remote Procedure Call Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical

Windows TPM

CVE-2023-1017

CERT/CC: CVE-2023-1017 TPM2.0 Module Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Critical

Windows TPM

CVE-2023-1018

CERT/CC: CVE-2023-1018 TPM2.0 Module Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Critical

Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS)

CVE-2023-23409

Client Server Run-Time Subsystem (CSRSS) Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS)

CVE-2023-23394

Client Server Run-Time Subsystem (CSRSS) Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Bluetooth Driver

CVE-2023-23388

Windows Bluetooth Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Graphics Component

CVE-2023-24910

Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24907

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24857

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24868

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24872

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24876

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24913

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24864

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24866

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24906

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24867

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24863

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24858

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24911

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24870

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24909

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-23406

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-23413

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver

CVE-2023-24856

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Printer Drivers

CVE-2023-24865

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Printer Drivers

CVE-2023-23403

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Windows Codecs Library

CVE-2023-23401

Windows Media Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Microsoft Windows Codecs Library

CVE-2023-23402

Windows Media Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Role: DNS Server

CVE-2023-23400

Windows DNS Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Accounts Control

CVE-2023-23412

Windows Accounts Picture Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Bluetooth Service

CVE-2023-24871

Windows Bluetooth Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Central Resource Manager

CVE-2023-23393

Windows BrokerInfrastructure Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows HTTP.sys

CVE-2023-23410

Windows HTTP.sys Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol

CVE-2023-24859

Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Extension Denial of Service Vulnerability

Important

Windows Kernel

CVE-2023-23420

Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Kernel

CVE-2023-23422

Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Kernel

CVE-2023-23421

Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Kernel

CVE-2023-23423

Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Partition Management Driver

CVE-2023-23417

Windows Partition Management Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)

CVE-2023-23407

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)

CVE-2023-23385

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)

CVE-2023-23414

Windows Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime

CVE-2023-23405

Remote Procedure Call Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime

CVE-2023-24869

Remote Procedure Call Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime

CVE-2023-24908

Remote Procedure Call Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Important

Windows Resilient File System (ReFS)

CVE-2023-23419

Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Resilient File System (ReFS)

CVE-2023-23418

Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Windows Secure Channel

CVE-2023-24862

Windows Secure Channel Denial of Service Vulnerability

Important

Windows SmartScreen

CVE-2023-24880

Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Moderate

Windows Win32K

CVE-2023-24861

Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Important

Runecast protects you against all of these

At Runecast we ensure that all operating systems vulnerabilities are covered, so you can focus on mitigating threats and ensuring your system is running safe and secure. We keep you updated about the latest vulnerabilities, exploits and security compliance research and pride ourselves on responding quickly and decisively to key news in the IT Security and Operations spaces.

Runecast is an AI-powered platform that gives you complete visibility and control over potential vulnerabilities in your environment. It provides best practices, risk-based vulnerability management, security and compliance to ensure every aspect of your environment is protected. In addition, Runecast also provides explicit instructions and generates custom remediation scripts, ensuring rapid compliance within the environment. The Runecast platform can be deployed to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and VMware environments and operates securely on-premises.

Run Secure and Compliant Workloads Anywhere

Detect and assess risks and be fully compliant in minutes.

Get Free Trial
Adrian Borlea

Adrian is Windows Security Researcher at Runecast and an IT enthusiast with over 10 years of experience. He has worked as a Network and Systems Administrator for companies across diverse sectors, contributing to complex projects ranging from infrastructure planning, implementation and troubleshooting to continuous improvement processes.

In recent years, Adrian has primarily focused on cyber-security projects, utilizing a variety of tools for vulnerability management, compliance and infrastructure monitoring against cyber-attacks.