{"id":1397,"date":"2013-03-14T13:25:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T17:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2013-03-14T13:25:32","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T17:25:32","slug":"critical-windows-usb-exploit-allows-flash-drives-to-grant-root-access-patch-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/03\/14\/critical-windows-usb-exploit-allows-flash-drives-to-grant-root-access-patch-issued\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Windows USB exploit allows flash drives to grant root access, patch issued"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/51929-critical-windows-usb-exploit-allows-flash-drives-to-grant-root-access-patch-issued.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/nccomputertech.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/microsoft_patch_tuesday1.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft&#8217;s Patch Tuesday yielded an interesting security fix for a glaring vulnerability in how the Windows kernel handles USB device enumeration. The critical vulnerability allowed potential hackers with physical access to a Windows PC to run arbitrary code with system user privileges &#8212; even while Windows was locked and users logged off.<br \/>\nWould-be hackers could exploit the security hole by merely inserting a specially-formatted USB flash drive with a custom device descriptor. During device detection, the Windows kernel would parse this information and execute malicious code found on such a USB drive, irrespective of autorun or AutoPlay settings. The code would run with elevated system privileges.<br \/>\nMicrosoft&#8217;s researchers admit this attack may indicate other, similar &#8220;avenues of exploitation&#8221; &#8212; but perhaps where physical access to the host system is not required.<br \/>\nThe vulnerability (MS13-027) is found across all versions of Windows ranging from Windows 8 to as far back as Windows XP SP2, including Windows Server variants.<br \/>\nBecause the hack requires no user interaction and exploits how Windows kernel-mode drivers handles memory-resident objects, the security snafu could be exploited even without a logged on user or while a Windows system is locked.<br \/>\nHaving physical access to a computer can make rooting a standard Windows box relatively straightforward; however, exploits which require only brief casual access can be dangerous, particularly in office and educational settings &#8212; a user&#8217;s privacy and security can be compromised in a matter of seconds.<br \/>\nMicrosoft addressed this security issue in yesterday&#8217;s round of updates. Windows Update is the simplest way to install the patch, but it can also be downloaded and install manually.<br \/>\nvia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/51929-critical-windows-usb-exploit-allows-flash-drives-to-grant-root-access-patch-issued.html\" target=\"_blank\">Critical Windows USB exploit allows flash drives to grant root access, patch issued &#8211; TechSpot<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft&#8217;s Patch Tuesday yielded an interesting security fix for a glaring vulnerability in how the Windows kernel handles USB device [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,5,7,9,11],"tags":[341,450,1138],"class_list":["post-1397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-microsoft","category-security","category-software","category-windows","tag-exploit","tag-hack","tag-usb"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-mx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9405,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/10\/07\/odorless-and-weightless-hackers-this-week-in-tech-687\/","url_meta":{"origin":1397,"position":0},"title":"Odorless and Weightless Hackers &#8211; This Week in Tech 687","author":"NCCT","date":"October 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lb4rnqfNdas Chinese Spy Chips, Microsoft Highs and Lows, Pixel 3 Event Predictions, and More! 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