Microsoft has released 12 security bulletins for the last “Patch Tuesday” of the year, eight of which are rated as critical for remote code execution vulnerabilities.
Please pay special attention to MS15-127 which fixes a vulnerability that allows attackers to work a remote code execution with a DNS query. Attackers that exploit MS15-127 would gain control over the server and execute code in the system context. The attack is remote and does not require authentication.
IT Security recommends the immediate installation of the following critical patches:
- MS15-124 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
- MS15-125 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Edge. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted web page using Microsoft Edge. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
- MS15-126 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in the VBScript scripting engine in Microsoft Windows. The more severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker hosts a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit the vulnerabilities through Internet Explorer (or leverages a compromised website or a website that accepts or hosts user-provided content or advertisements) and then convinces a user to view the website. An attacker could also embed an ActiveX control marked "safe for initialization" in an application or Microsoft Office document that uses the Internet Explorer rendering engine to direct the user to the specially crafted website.
- MS15-127 This security update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an attacker sends specially crafted requests to a DNS server.
- MS15-128 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, .NET Framework, Microsoft Office, Skype for Business, Microsoft Lync, and Silverlight. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted document or visits a webpage that contains specially crafted embedded fonts.
- MS15-129 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Silverlight. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if Microsoft Silverlight incorrectly handles certain open and close requests that could result in read- and write-access violations. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker could host a website that contains a specially crafted Silverlight application and then convince a user to visit a compromised website. The attacker could also take advantage of websites containing specially crafted content, including those that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements.
- MS15-130 This security update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted document or visits an untrusted webpage that contains specially crafted fonts.
- MS15-131 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Microsoft Office file. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
In addition to the above critical patches, it is recommended to install the following important patches:
- MS15-132 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker accesses a local system and runs a specially crafted application.
- MS15-133 This security update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to a target system and runs a specially crafted application that, by way of a race condition, results in references to memory locations that have already been freed. Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) must be installed and the Windows Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) protocol specifically enabled for a system to be vulnerable. MSMQ is not present in default configurations and, if it is installed, the PGM protocol is available but disabled by default.
- MS15-134 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The more severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if Windows Media Center opens a specially crafted Media Center link (.mcl) file that references malicious code. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Customers whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
- MS15-135 This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to a target system and runs a specially crafted application.
