September 17th, 2009
Remote exploit released for Windows Vista SMB2 worm hole
Security researchers at penetration testing firm Immunity have created a reliable remote exploit capable of spawning a worm through an unpatched security hole in Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system.
A team of exploit writers led by Kostya Kortchinsky attacked the known SMB v2 vulnerability and created a remote exploit that’s been fitted into Immunity’s Canvas pen-testing platform. The exploit hits all versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2, according to Immunity’s Dave Aitel.
[ SEE: Microsoft confirms SMB2 vulnerability, warns of code execution risk ]
Immunity’s Canvas is used by IDS (intrusion detection companies) and larger penetrating testing firms as a risk management tool.
Exploit writers at the freely available Metasploit Project are also close to finishing a reliable exploit for the vulnerability, according to Metasploit’s HD Moore.
The vulnerability, which was originally released as a denial-of-service issue, does not affect the RTM version of Windows 7, Microsoft said. It appears Microsoft fixed the flaw in Windows 7 build ~7130, just after RC1. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 users remain at risk.
In the absence of patch, Microsoft recommends that users disable SMB v2 and block TCP ports 139 and 445 at the firewall.
Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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