Cyber Risks · Cisco Talos

Threat Source Newsletter (Dec. 2, 2021)

Summary: Cisco Talos reported that a Windows Installer elevation-of-privilege vulnerability affecting every version of Microsoft Windows, including fully patched Windows 11 and Server 2022, was not fully remediated by Microsoft's Nov. 9 patch for CVE-2021-41379, and researcher Abdelhamid Naceri published working proof-of-concept exploit code on GitHub on Nov. 22. Talos also reported that Emotet, disrupted by an international takedown in early 2021, has re-emerged and is rebuilding the infrastructure and distribution needed to reconstitute its botnets.

Key Takeaway: Talos says it has already detected malware samples in the wild attempting to exploit the Windows Installer flaw, and the public exploit lets a limited user account run code as an administrator on fully patched systems. Emotet's return gives threat actors the same initial foothold that historically led to follow-on malware infections, even at lower volumes than before.

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Topics
Vulnerabilities & Patching
Mentions
CVE-2021-41379
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