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| Google has revealed a Windows security vulnerability that is now being exploited |
The Google Zero Project team, known for finding security threats, has discovered a Windows vulnerability that affects (Windows 7) and pre-1903 (Windows 10) versions of the system.
Google said in an article: There is evidence that the vulnerability has been actively exploited and that attackers can use elevated privileges to execute code.
Interestingly, the vulnerability tracked by name (CVE-2020-17087) and another actively exploited in Chrome last week, CVE-2020-15999, tracked the situation that led to the Sandbox escape. According to (Catalin Simpano) from the technology site (ZDNet), cybercriminals use these two vulnerabilities to execute code on the hacked target by escaping from the browser security environment.
The disclosure notice also added that Microsoft will fix this vulnerability in a patch released on Tuesday, November 10. However, the Windows 7 release patch only applies to users who have subscribed to Extended Security Updates (ESU). Hence, not all users can solve this problem in their Windows 7 system. Because the vulnerability was actively exploited, the giant research team gave Microsoft 7 days to correct the bug then released it, and immediately revealed the vulnerability.
Google fixed vulnerabilities in Chrome with the release of a stable version of the browser (86.0.4240.1111). Regarding the Windows vulnerability, the vulnerability is in the Windows Kernel Encryption Driver (cng.sys) and the Project Zero team explained it in detail in the article. The company has also included a guide to concept code to show how exploiting vulnerabilities can harm the system.
Additionally, the head of Google's threat assessment team (Shane Huntley) indicated that the gap has nothing to do with the government's attack on the upcoming US elections.