New Delhi: The government’s cybersecurity arm has issued an advisory, warning users of vulnerabilities in specific versions of Microsoft Windows.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) says that these loopholes can enable a hacker to gain elevated privileges on the targeted system.
Microsoft Windows versions that have been affected
According to the cyber agency, this vulnerability exists in a component of Windows Kernel. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must overcome a race condition.
- Windows 10: Versions 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2
- Windows 11: Versions 21H2, 22H2, 23H2, 24H2
- Windows Server 2016 (including Server Core installation)
- Windows Server 2019 (including Server Core installation)
- Windows Server 2022 (including 23H2 Edition and Server Core installation)
What CERT-In advisory says
In its advisory, CERT-In says this is a privilege escalation vulnerability – which has a severity rating of ‘high’ – in Microsoft Windows Kernel.
“Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges on the targeted system,” it said, adding that the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.
What users need to do
As per the CERT-In, Microsoft has already released patches to plug the vulnerabilities. Users who are using the affected versions of Windows can check for updates and install them as soon as possible.
To manage your options and see available updates, select Check for Windows updates, or users can:
- Select the Start button
- Go to Settings
- Update & Security
- Windows Update
Cert-In has also pointed out a vulnerability in the GitHub Enterprise Server when utilising SAML authentication with specific identity providers.
“This vulnerability allowed an attacker with direct network access to GitHub Enterprise Server to forge a SAML response to provision and/or gain access to a user with site administrator privileges,” it said.