Zero-Day Advisory

Fortinet Discovers Microsoft Windows Kernel Privilege Elevation Vulnerability

Summary

Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs has discovered an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Microsoft Kernel.

Microsoft Kernel is the central module of the operating system (OS). It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Typically, the kernel is responsible for memory management, process and task management, and disk management. The kernel connects the system hardware to the application software.

An elevation of privilege vulnerability has been discovered in Microsoft Windows Kernel. The vulnerability exists in the way that the Windows Kernel handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could execute code with elevated permissions.

Solutions

FortiGuard Labs released the following FortiGate IPS signature which covers this specific vulnerability:

MS.Windows.Kernel.Privilege.Elevation
Released Feb 23, 2018

Users should apply the solution provided by Microsoft.

Timeline

Fortinet reported the vulnerability to Microsoft on December 1, 2017.

Microsoft confirmed the vulnerability on January 12, 2018.

Microsoft patched the vulnerability on April 10, 2018.

References

• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-0963
  

• CVE-2018-0963

Acknowledgement

This vulnerability was discovered by Honggang Ren of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs.

IPS Subscription

Fortinet customers who subscribe to Fortinet's intrusion prevention (IPS) service should be protected against this vulnerability with the appropriate configuration parameters in place. Fortinet's IPS service is one component of FortiGuard Subscription Services, which also offer comprehensive solutions such as antivirus, Web content filtering and antispam capabilities. These services enable protection against threats on both application and network layers. FortiGuard Services are continuously updated by FortiGuard Labs, which enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats. These updates are delivered to all FortiGate, FortiMail and FortiClient products. Fortinet strictly follows responsible disclosure guidelines to ensure optimum protection during a threat's lifecycle.