Critical Patches Issued for Microsoft Products, November 14, 2023

ITS ADVISORY NUMBER:
2023-132

DATE(S) ISSUED:
11/14/2023

SUBJECT:
Critical Patches Issued for Microsoft Products, November 14, 2023

OVERVIEW:
Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Microsoft products, the most severe of which could allow for remote code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

THREAT INTELLIGENCE:
There are currently no reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild.

SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)

HTTP/2

Adobe

Windows Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol

Windows Win32K

Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS)

Skype for Business

Windows cURL Implementation

Windows Mobile Device Management

Microsoft QUIC

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Graphics Component

Windows Message Queuing

Role: Windows Hyper-V

Windows Cryptographic Services

Windows Wireless Wide Area Network Service

Windows Client/Server Runtime Subsystem

ASP.NET

Microsoft Windows Search Component

.NET Framework

Microsoft Dynamics Finance & Operations

.NET Core & Visual Studio

.NET and Visual Studio

Windows RDP

SQL Server

Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Office Word

Azure

Windows Named Pipe File System

Windows IKE Extension

Windows NT OS Kernel

Windows Power Management Service

Windows Container Manager Service

Active Directory Domain Services

Windows Error Reporting

Windows Mixed Reality Developer Tools

Windows Virtual Trusted Platform Module

Windows TPM

Windows Common Log File System Driver

Windows Kernel

Windows Runtime C++ Template Library

Microsoft Windows Media Foundation

Windows AllJoyn API

Windows Deployment Services

Windows Setup Files Cleanup

Windows DHCP Server

Windows Microsoft DirectMusic

Windows Resilient File System (ReFS)

Windows TCP/IP

Microsoft WDAC ODBC Driver

Windows Remote Procedure Call

Windows Active Template Library

Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW)

Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Common Data Model SDK

Microsoft WordPad

Azure DevOps

Windows HTML Platform

Windows IIS

Azure Real Time Operating System

Azure SDK

ASP.NET and Visual Studio

SysInternals

Microsoft Windows Codecs Library

Windows Kerberos

Microsoft Accessibility Insights for Web

Windows SMB

Servicing Stack Updates

Windows Active Directory

  

RISK:
Government:

Large and medium government entities: High

Small government entities: Medium

  

Businesses:

Large and medium business entities: High

Small business entities: Medium

Home users: Low

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:
Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Microsoft products, the most severe of which could allow for remote code execution. 

A full list of all vulnerabilities can be found at the link below:

https://learn.cisecurity.org/e/799323/ate-guide-releaseNote-2023-Nov/4tblnx/1532010330/h/lLLHjw5Wfej8ccmKNOTTqMBjZF6n28Fxro5tBlyj11U

Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could result in an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged-on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend the following actions be taken:

Apply appropriate patches or appropriate mitigations provided by Microsoft to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing. (M1051: Update Software

Safeguard 7.1: Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process: Establish and maintain a documented vulnerability management process for enterprise assets. Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.

Safeguard 7.4: Perform Automated Application Patch Management: Perform application updates on enterprise assets through automated patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.

Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services, and run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative rights) to diminish the effects of a successful attack. (M1026: Privileged Account Management

Safeguard 4.7: Manage Default Accounts on Enterprise Assets and Software: Manage default accounts on enterprise assets and software, such as root, administrator, and other pre-configured vendor accounts. Example implementations can include: disabling default accounts or making them unusable.

Safeguard 5.4: Restrict Administrator Privileges to Dedicated Administrator Accounts: Restrict administrator privileges to dedicated administrator accounts on enterprise assets. Conduct general computing activities, such as internet browsing, email, and productivity suite use, from the user’s primary, non-privileged account.

Remind all users not to visit untrusted websites or follow links/open files provided by unknown or untrusted sources. (M1017: User Training

Safeguard 14.1: Establish and Maintain a Security Awareness Program: Establish and maintain a security awareness program. The purpose of a security awareness program is to educate the enterprise’s workforce on how to interact with enterprise assets and data in a secure manner. Conduct training at hire and, at a minimum, annually. Review and update content annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.

Safeguard 14.2: Train Workforce Members to Recognize Social Engineering Attacks: Train workforce members to recognize social engineering attacks, such as phishing, pre-texting, and tailgating.

Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior. (M1040 : Behavior Prevention on Endpoint

Safeguard 13.2 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Detection Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion detection solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported.

Safeguard 13.7 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Prevention Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion prevention solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported. Example implementations include use of an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) client or host-based IPS agent.

REFERENCES:

Microsoft:
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2023-Nov

TLP:CLEAR
www.cisa.gov/tlp