All news with #privilege escalation tag

⚠ An exploit for a local privilege escalation called Copy Fail (CVE-2026-31431) has been published, allowing unprivileged users to obtain root on Linux kernels released since 2017. The issue was discovered by Theori using its Xint Code AI pentesting platform, reported on March 23, and patched upstream in early April by reverting an in-place crypto optimization. Researchers published a compact Python PoC that they demonstrated against multiple distributions and recommend disabling the algif_aead interface as an interim mitigation while vendors distribute kernel updates.

🔒 Security researchers Xint.io and Theori disclosed a high-severity Linux local privilege escalation tracked as CVE-2026-31431 and dubbed Copy Fail, which lets an unprivileged user write four controlled bytes into the page cache of any readable file to gain root. The defect stems from a logic flaw in the kernel cryptographic algif_aead module introduced in 2017. A compact 732‑byte Python exploit can inject shellcode into a setuid binary such as /usr/bin/su and spawn a root shell, and major distributions have issued advisories.

🔒 The AWS Customer Incident Response Team (AWS CIRT) released the March 2026 update to the Threat Technique Catalog for AWS, adding three new entries that address identity abuse, persistence, infrastructure destruction, and privilege escalation. The update highlights concrete, real-world techniques — Cognito refresh token abuse, AMI deregistration, and misuse of UpdateAssumeRolePolicy — that let attackers hide in legitimate operations. Each entry includes detection guidance and straightforward mitigations you can apply today, such as enabling refresh token rotation, protecting AMIs with Recycle Bin retention rules, and monitoring trust-policy changes.

🔒 An underscoped built-in role in Microsoft Entra ID, Agent ID Administrator, allowed users to assume ownership of arbitrary service principals and then add credentials to authenticate as those principals, enabling full service principal takeover. Silverfort researchers, led by Noa Ariel, reported the vulnerability on March 1, 2026, and Microsoft issued a patch across all cloud environments on April 9, 2026. After the update, attempts to assign ownership of non-agent service principals using the role are blocked and return a 'Forbidden' error. Organizations are advised to monitor sensitive role usage, audit service principal ownership and credential changes, and secure privileged non-human identities.

🔒 Researchers at Silverfort discovered that Microsoft’s Agent ID Administrator role could modify and take ownership of unrelated service principals, allowing role holders to create credentials and authenticate as compromised applications. The flaw stemmed from scope enforcement failing in the Agent Identity Platform, where agent identities share primitives with applications. Microsoft deployed a fix by April 9, 2026; organizations should audit role assignments and service principal ownership and monitor for unexpected changes.

⚠️ A newly disclosed vulnerability, dubbed Pack2TheRoot (CVE-2026-41651), permits local Linux users to install or remove system packages and obtain root privileges by abusing the PackageKit daemon. The bug dates back to 2014 and affects PackageKit versions 1.0.2 through 1.3.4; it is resolved in PackageKit 1.3.5. Administrators should upgrade immediately, verify if packagekit is running, and monitor logs for assertion failures or crashes as likely indicators of attempted exploitation.

🔐 Cisco Talos reports that UAT-4356 exploited FXOS n-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362) to deploy a custom backdoor named FIRESTARTER on Cisco Firepower, ASA and FTD appliances. The implant injects into the LINA process, replaces a WebVPN XML handler, and executes shellcode delivered via specially crafted requests. Operators should follow Cisco advisories for detection, remediation and recommended software upgrades.

🔒 CISA has ordered federal agencies to urgently patch a high-severity Microsoft Defender privilege escalation vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-33825 and publicly dubbed BlueHammer, after evidence of active exploitation. Microsoft released a patch on April 14 following public disclosure and proof-of-concept code published by a researcher using the handle 'Chaotic Eclipse', who also revealed related Defender issues. Huntress Labs reported attacks showing hands‑on‑keyboard activity and suspicious FortiGate SSL VPN access tied to a Russia‑geolocated IP. Agencies must apply mitigations or update systems within two weeks, with a compliance deadline of May 7.

🔒 Microsoft released an out-of-band update to address a high-severity privilege-escalation flaw in ASP.NET Core tracked as CVE-2026-40372 (CVSS 9.1). A regression in Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection 10.0.0–10.0.6 allowed the managed encryptor to compute HMAC validation over incorrect payload bytes, enabling forged payloads to pass authenticity checks and potentially grant SYSTEM-level access on non-Windows hosts. Microsoft fixed the issue in ASP.NET Core 10.0.7 and warned tokens issued during the vulnerable window remain valid until the DataProtection key ring is rotated.

🔒 Microsoft has released out-of-band updates to fix a critical ASP.NET Core privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-40372) in the ASP.NET Core Data Protection APIs. A regression in the Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection 10.0.0–10.0.6 packages caused HMAC validation to be computed over the wrong bytes, allowing forged auth cookies and decryption of protected payloads. Developers should update to 10.0.7, redeploy, and rotate DataProtection key rings to invalidate tokens issued during the vulnerable window.

🔒 Siemens has identified a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-27668) in RUGGEDCOM CROSSBOW Secure Access Manager Primary (SAM-P) that permits authenticated User Administrators to grant themselves access to any device group. The issue affects SAM-P versions prior to V5.8; Siemens has released V5.8 to remediate the flaw and recommends immediate updates. Operators should also minimize network exposure and follow established industrial security guidelines.

🔒 Huntress warns that threat actors are actively exploiting three recently disclosed Microsoft Defender vulnerabilities — codenamed BlueHammer, RedSun, and UnDefend — to gain elevated privileges and disrupt defenses. Microsoft addressed BlueHammer in this week's Patch Tuesday as CVE-2026-33825, but RedSun and UnDefend remain unpatched and have PoCs observed in the wild. Huntress reported weaponization beginning April 10 for BlueHammer and April 16 for RedSun and UnDefend, and said it isolated affected environments while investigating post-exploitation activity.

🛡️ A new proof-of-concept called RedSun demonstrates that Microsoft Defender can be manipulated to overwrite protected system files and escalate privileges to SYSTEM on Windows 10 and 11 systems with cloud files features enabled. The exploit leverages Defender’s special handling of cloud-tagged files, which can trigger a rewrite to disk during remediation, allowing attackers to influence timing and destination. Researchers reproduce the issue using the Cloud Files API, oplocks, Volume Shadow Copy race conditions, and directory junctions; detection is limited and Microsoft has not yet commented.

⚠️After installing the April 2026 Windows security update (KB5082063), some non‑Global Catalog domain controllers configured with Privileged Access Management (PAM) may experience Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) crashes during startup. Affected servers can enter repeated reboot loops, disrupting authentication and directory services and potentially rendering domains unavailable. Microsoft is investigating and advises administrators to contact Microsoft Support for Business for mitigation options until a permanent fix is released.

🔓 Threat actors are actively using proof-of-concept exploit code for three recently disclosed Windows vulnerabilities to elevate privileges or disrupt Microsoft Defender. Researcher "Chaotic Eclipse" (aka "Nightmare-Eclipse") published PoCs for BlueHammer, RedSun, and UnDefend in protest over Microsoft’s handling of disclosure. Huntress Labs has observed exploitation in the wild, with BlueHammer seen since April 10, and Microsoft has patched only BlueHammer (CVE-2026-33825) so far while RedSun and UnDefend remain unaddressed.

⚠️ A proof-of-concept for a second Microsoft Defender zero-day, dubbed RedSun, was published by researcher 'Chaotic Eclipse', demonstrating a local privilege escalation that grants SYSTEM privileges on patched Windows 10, Windows 11, and supported Windows Server releases when Defender is enabled. The PoC exploits Defender's handling of cloud-tagged files via the Cloud Files API to overwrite system binaries and achieve code execution as SYSTEM. Security analyst Will Dormann of Tharros confirmed the exploit works; some antivirus products detect elements of the PoC due to an embedded EICAR test file. The researcher says the publication was a protest over interactions with the Microsoft Security Response Center.

⚠️ CISA warned federal agencies that a Windows Task Host privilege escalation flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-60710, is being treated as actively exploited and must be patched. The issue affects Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 and arises from a link-following weakness in the Task Host that lets a local user with basic permissions elevate to SYSTEM. Agencies were given two weeks under BOD 22-01 to remediate; CISA urges all organizations to apply the patch or vendor mitigations immediately.

🔒 Microsoft released its April 2026 Patch Tuesday updates addressing 167 security flaws across Windows and related products, including a SharePoint Server zero-day (CVE-2026-32201) and a publicly disclosed Windows Defender privilege escalation dubbed BlueHammer. Google Chrome and Adobe issued emergency fixes for actively exploited zero-days. Administrators should prioritize patches for SharePoint, SQL Server, and Defender and restart browsers to ensure Chromium-based updates are applied.

⚠️ Microsoft’s April 2026 Patch Tuesday addresses 164 CVEs, including two zero-days and eight Critical vulnerabilities. The release focuses heavily on elevation-of-privilege flaws (57% of patches) and updates for Windows, Office and developer tools. Notable fixes include an exploited SharePoint spoofing zero-day (CVE-2026-32201), a disclosed Defender elevation-of-privilege issue (CVE-2026-33825), and several high‑risk RCEs; deploy patches promptly and apply recommended mitigations.

🔒 Researchers warn that seven vulnerabilities in IBM WebSphere Liberty can be chained from a pre-authentication SAML Web SSO flaw into full server compromise. The initial defect, tracked as CVE-2026-1561, allows unauthenticated attackers to supply crafted serialized payloads because a String.concat() misuse makes the integrity check ineffective, enabling pre-auth RCE against exposed SAML endpoints. Subsequent AdminCenter weaknesses let low-privileged 'reader' users retrieve keys and sensitive configuration, forge tokens, and abuse an archive-extraction flaw to write arbitrary files; IBM has issued patches and configuration guidance to mitigate the chain.