TA15-119A: Top 30 Targeted High Risk Vulnerabilities

Original release date: April 29, 2015

Systems Affected

Systems running unpatched software from Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, or OpenSSL. 

Overview

Cyber threat actors continue to exploit unpatched software to conduct attacks against critical infrastructure organizations. As many as 85 percent of targeted attacks are preventable [1].

This Alert provides information on the 30 most commonly exploited vulnerabilities used in these attacks, along with prevention and mitigation recommendations.

It is based on analysis completed by the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) and was developed in collaboration with our partners from Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Description

Unpatched vulnerabilities allow malicious actors entry points into a network. A set of vulnerabilities are consistently targeted in observed attacks.

Impact

A successful network intrusion can have severe impacts, particularly if the compromise becomes public and sensitive information is exposed. Possible impacts include:

  • Temporary or permanent loss of sensitive or proprietary information,
  • Disruption to regular operations,
  • Financial losses relating to restoring systems and files, and
  • Potential harm to an organization’s reputation.

Solution

Maintain up-to-date software

The attack vectors frequently used by malicious actors such as email attachments, compromised “watering hole” websites, and other tools often rely on taking advantage of unpatched vulnerabilities found in widely used software applications. Patching is the process of repairing vulnerabilities found in these software components.

It is necessary for all organizations to establish a strong ongoing patch management process to ensure the proper preventive measures are taken against potential threats. The longer a system remains unpatched, the longer it is vulnerable to being compromised. Once a patch has been publicly released, the underlying vulnerability can be reverse engineered by malicious actors in order to create an exploit. This process has been documented to take anywhere from 24-hours to four days. Timely patching is one of the lowest cost yet most effective steps an organization can take to minimize its exposure to the threats facing its network.

Patch commonly exploited vulnerabilities

Executives should ensure their organization’s information security professionals have patched the following software vulnerabilities. Please see patching information for version specifics.

Microsoft

CVE

Affected Products

Patching Information

CVE-2006-3227 ​Internet Explorer Microsoft Malware Protection Encyclopedia Entry

CVE-2008-2244

Office Word

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-042

CVE-2009-3129

Office
Office for Mac
Open XML File Format Converter for Mac
Office Excel Viewer
Excel
Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-067

​CVE-2009-3674 ​Internet Explorer ​Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-072
CVE-2010-0806​ ​Internet Explorer Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-018

CVE-2010-3333

Office
Office for Mac
Open XML File Format Converter for Mac

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-087

CVE-2011-0101

Excel

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-021

CVE-2012-0158

Office
SQL Server
BizTalk Server
Commerce Server
Visual FoxPro
Visual Basic

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-027

CVE-2012-1856

Office
SQL Server
Commerce Server
Host Integration Server
Visual FoxPro Visual Basic

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-060

​CVE-2012-4792 ​Internet Explorer ​Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-008
CVE-2013-0074 ​Silverlight and Developer Runtime Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-022
CVE-2013-1347 ​Internet Explorer Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-038
CVE-2014-0322​ ​​Internet Explorer Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-012

CVE-2014-1761

Microsoft Word
Office Word Viewer
Office Compatibility Pack
Office for Mac
Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server
Office Web Apps
Office Web Apps Server

​CVE-2014-1776 ​Internet Explorer Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-021
​Windows Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-060
 
 
Oracle

CVE

Affected Products

Patching Information

CVE-2012-1723

Java Development Kit, SDK, and JRE

CVE-2013-2465

Java Development Kit and JRE

Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Update Advisory – June 2013

 
 
Adobe

CVE

Affected Products

Patching Information

​CVE-2009-3953
Reader
Acrobat ​
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-02​
​CVE-2010-0188
​Reader
Acrobat
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-07
CVE-2010-2883
Reader
Acrobat ​
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-21
CVE-2011-0611
​Flash Player
AIR
Reader
Acrobat
​CVE-2011-2462
Reader
Acrobat ​
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB11-30
​CVE-2013-0625 ColdFusion​ Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-03
CVE-2013-0632 ​ColdFusion Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-03
​CVE-2013-2729
​Reader
Acrobat
Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-15
​CVE-2013-3336 ​ColdFusion Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-13
CVE-2013-5326

 
 
​ColdFusion Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-27

CVE-2014-0564

Flash Player
AIR
AIR SDK & Compiler

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB14-22

 
OpenSSL

CVE

Affected Product

Patching Information

CVE-2014-0160

OpenSSL

CERT Vulnerability Note VU#720951

 
 

Implement the following four mitigation strategies.

As part of a comprehensive security strategy, network administrators should implement the following four mitigation strategies, which can help prevent targeted cyber attacks.

Ranking

Mitigation Strategy

Rationale

1

Use application whitelisting to help prevent malicious software and unapproved programs from running.

Application whitelisting is one of the best security strategies as it allows only specified programs to run, while blocking all others, including malicious software.

2

Patch applications such as Java, PDF viewers, Flash, web browsers and Microsoft Office.

Vulnerable applications and operating systems are the target of most attacks. Ensuring these are patched with the latest updates greatly reduces the number of exploitable entry points available to an attacker.

3

Patch operating system vulnerabilities.

4

Restrict administrative privileges to operating systems and applications based on user duties.

Restricting these privileges may prevent malware from running or limit its capability to spread through the network.

It is recommended that users review US-CERT Security Tip (ST13-003) and CCIRC’s Mitigation Guidelines for Advanced Persistent Threats for additional background information and to assist in the detection of, response to, and recovery from malicious activity linked to advance persistent threats [2, 3].

References

Revision History

  • April 29, 2015: Initial release

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