Microsoft claims 50,000 organizations are using its new Copilot Creation tool, but researcher Michael Bargury demonstrated at Black Hat USA ways it could unleash insecure chatbots.

Source: Brain Light via Alamy Stock Photo

BLACK HAT USA – Las Vegas – Wednesday, Aug. 7 – Enterprise usage of Copilot Studio, Microsoft's automated chatbot creation tool, has grown considerably since its release less than nine months ago. But despite opening the floodgates for anyone to create so-called "copilots," all bots created or modified with the service aren't secure by default.

So says security researcher Michael Bargury, a former senior security architect in Microsoft's Azure Security CTO office, now a project leader for the OWASP Low-Code/No-Code Top 10 Security Risks project and CTO at Zenity.

On Wednesday at Black Hat USA in Las Vegas, Bargury demonstrated how developers could unwittingly build copilots that inadvertently exfiltrate data or bypass policies and data loss prevention controls.

"It's very, very easy to make a mistake with this no-code tool and introduce a serious security vulnerability into a copilot," Bargury tells Dark Reading. "Actually, it's very difficult to get everything right because there are so many ways to get it wrong."

**Rapid Adoption of Copilot Studio**

The drag-and-drop, wizard-based Copilot Creation tool is available to all users of the Microsoft 365 productivity suite and has quickly introduced an easy way for power users in lines of business to create copilots, or AI assistants, that are designed to automate workflows and enable more efficient meetings, among other capabilities.

The addition of Copilot Studio to the mix further allows customers to extend the capability of these bots and build custom copilots.

During Microsoft's fourth quarter, 2024 fiscal year earnings call on July 30, chairman and CEO Satya Nadella touted that the usage of Copilots grew 60% in the last quarter. And the number of organizations that have used Copilot Studio grew by 70% last quarter, reaching 50,000 shops, including Carnival, Cognizant, Eaton, KPMG, Majesco, and McKinsey.

**Initial Release Was "Way Overpermissioned"**

Among some of the initial problems Bargury spotted were in the default settings in the copilot bots created by Copilot Creator. Specifically, many of the bots were publicly accessible without requiring authentication. Also, they could impersonate a user with ease.

"You could create a copilot that bakes your identity into it," he explains. "Now, I talk to that copilot over the Internet without logging in, and I'm using your identity. It was way overpermissioned."

Bargury says he discovered a variety of other security faults following the release of Copilot Studio. For example, someone trying to create a copilot designed to call on public SharePoint sites could also tap a private SharePoint site on the same network. Because the copilots could easily be discovered outside of an organization, they could become conduits for remote attacks.

"I could search the Web for open Copilot Studio bots, and we found tens of thousands of them," Bargury says. "And then I could fuzz those copilots with AI and find out which copilots I could talk to, and find out whether it's willing to talk to me and what kinds of information and operations it could perform. And then I could grab information from them."

He says that Microsoft has fixed the issues and has introduced new admin controls designed to strip away the ability to inadvertently create insecure actions, such as allowing an administrator to disallow users from creating bots that can be shared publicly. Admins should update their implementations to protect their organizations.

**Low Code & Chatbots: Balancing Productivity & Security**

The appeal of Microsoft Copilot and similar bots is that they enable users to be more productive, and they automate many routine tasks. But as this research shows, they can also be a weak link inside an organization. Bargury says he believes Microsoft is committed to ensuring Copilot Studio has better security from here on out.

"I think they are going to continue investing in giving admins more control," he says. "But they are in a tough spot because they need to balance productivity with security. And we know where the balance ends."

In his Black Hat session, Bargury also demonstrated CopilotHunter, a new module for the Power Pwn security tool set for Microsoft's low-code/no-code Power Platform that scans for open Copilot Studio bots and fuzzes them to access the data behind them. It is available on GitHub.

**15 Ways to Break Copilot Studio**

In his conclusion, Bargury broke down the 15 security issues he discovered with Copilot Security.

1.  Unreliable and untrusted input
    
2.  Multiple data leakage scenarios
    
3.  Oversharing sensitive data
    
4.  Unexpected execution path
    
5.  Unexpected execution path and operations
    
6.  Data flowing outside org's compliance and geo boundaries
    
7.  Sensitive data oversharing and leakage
    
8.  Destructive, unpredictable copilot actions
    

10.  Gain unintended data access
    
11.  Hardcoded credentials might be supplied as part of a copilot answer
    
12.  Oversharing copilot access through channels
    

14.  Oversharing copilot ownership with members
    
15.  Oversharing copilot ownership (and more) with guests
    

**About the Author**

Jeffrey Schwartz is a journalist who has covered information security and all forms of business and enterprise IT, including client computing, data center and cloud infrastructure, and application development for more than 30 years. Jeff is a regular contributor to Channel Futures. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Redmond magazine and contributed to its sister titles Redmond Channel Partner, Application Development Trends, and Virtualization Review. Earlier, he held editorial roles with CommunicationsWeek, InternetWeek, and VARBusiness. Jeff is based in the New York City suburb of Long Island.

Creating Insecure AI Assistants With Microsoft Copilot Studio Is Easy

If paying a ransom is prohibited, organizations won't do it — eliminating the incentive for cybercriminals. Problem solved, it seems. Or is it?

Ilia Sotnikov, Security Strategist & Vice President of User Experience, Netwrix

July 31, 2024

4 Min Read

Source: Olekcii Mach via Alamy Stock Photo

COMMENTARY

Ransomware and other malware attacks are among the top three types of security incidents that organizations experience, according to Netwrix's "2024 Hybrid Security Trends Report." In a bid to curb this menace, for several years now there have been discussions around a radical approach: making ransomware payments illegal. The rationale is straightforward. If paying a ransom is prohibited, organizations won't do it — thus eliminating the incentive for cybercriminals to launch ransomware attacks. Problem solved. Or is it?

**All Ransoms Are Not Equal**

We must first recognize that there are multiple types of extortion. Ransomware is generally different from physical extortion cases like kidnappings, hostage situations, and threats of violence against individuals or public spaces. However, a ransomware attack, for example, on a hospital, literally endangers patients' lives. 

In scenarios where human lives are directly at stake, the ethical and legal considerations surrounding ransom payments are more complex than a simple ban allows for. Given the adaptability and resourcefulness of ransomware attackers, it is highly likely that they will push the boundaries of such a ban and test the limits of enforcement. As a result, a blanket ban on all ransom payments could force decision-makers into impossible moral dilemmas.

**The Law of Unintended Consequences**

Let's suppose for a moment that ransom payments have been legally prohibited, and a ransomware attack has just crippled your business. You need to get back online quickly or your business may go under. While the law forbids you from paying the ransom, enforcement agencies cannot stop what they don't know about. Almost certainly, some companies would quietly pay the ransom and simply not report the incident. This hesitancy to report attacks affects visibility into the actual scope of the problem and hinders law enforcement from acting accordingly. If the challenge is unknown, it cannot be addressed. 

In addition, there would be a disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized businesses. While large organizations might possess the resources to endure a ransomware attack without caving in to ransom demands, small businesses could face existential threats. A blanket ban on ransom payments could leave them in a precarious position of having to choose between resorting to illegal payments or risking going out of business.

**Case in Point: Cyber Insurance **

No legislative action or policy change occurs in isolation; it inevitably has ripple effects and unintended consequences. Cyber insurance provides a prime example in the arena of ransomware. By securing a cyber-insurance policy, businesses aim to protect themselves from the financial fallout of a ransomware attack, as the insurance provider would cover the ransom payment. 

Indeed, this is how it worked just several years ago. However, cybercriminals quickly recognized that insured organizations are more likely to pay ransoms, since their insurance company covers these expenses. It is reasonable to assume that threat actors started conducting reconnaissance on the cyber-insurance coverage of potential victims to tailor their attacks and maximize their profits. This is how cyber insurance might have contributed to the growth of the ransomware epidemic. 

Currently, one can hardly find an insurance company ready to reimburse the ransom payment.

**A Better Model: Follow the Banking Industry**

Bank robberies were once a prevalent threat, but they have significantly declined in recent decades. This reduction was not achieved by banning bank tellers from handing over cash. Instead, banks have adopted a multifaceted approach to mitigate the risk. To deter potential robbers, they use measures such as reduced cash handling, time-lock safes, enhanced security cameras, and alarm systems. Dye packs, decoy money, and GPS trackers reduce the risk of financial loss in cases where cash is ultimately handed over. What's more, appropriate security measures are a must to obtain and keep the license to operate. 

A similar approach may prove equally effective for other high-risk industries. Governments can establish cybersecurity benchmarks and recommend risk mitigation strategies, just as they have for the public sector and critical infrastructure. Such standards offer essential guidance for organizations that lack the strategic leadership necessary to develop an effective ransomware defense strategy independently. 

Finally, law enforcement agencies take their share of the responsibility and increase international collaboration to dismantle ransomware networks. The benefits of this approach are already paying off, as evidenced by the recent takedown of the LockBit ransomware gang. Agencies from more than half a dozen countries issued a detailed joint cybersecurity advisory that outlined LockBit's tactics and tools. They also seized some of the group's attack assets, significantly hindering their ability to initiate attacks.

**Conclusion**

Frustration is understandable as ransomware attacks continue around the globe, but simply denying victim organizations the option of paying the ransom is neither realistic nor practical. There will always be exceptions to the law, and unanticipated repercussions could make the cure worse than the disease. Instead, an effective response will require organizations to take greater responsibility for cybersecurity and government agencies to engage in good old-fashioned police work. This strategy may not be as straightforward as a ban on ransom payments, but the war against ransomware is winnable through a comprehensive, nuanced approach.

**About the Author(s)**

Security Strategist & Vice President of User Experience, Netwrix

An accomplished expert in cybersecurity and IT management, Ilia Sotnikov is security strategist and vice president of user experience at Netwrix, a vendor of information security and governance software. Netwrix is based in Frisco, Texas. 

Ilia has more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity as well as IT management experience during his time at Netwrix, Quest Software, and Dell. In his current role, Ilia is responsible for technical enablement, UX design, and product vision across the entire product portfolio. Ilia’s main areas of expertise are data security and risk management.

Would Making Ransom Payments Illegal Result in Fewer Attacks?

Plus: More Pegasus spyware controversy, a major BIOS controversy, and more of the week’s top security news.

The fallout from CrowdStrike’s deleterious software update came into full view this week as system administrators and IT staffers scrambled to get digital systems back online and return operations to normal. Elsewhere, the Olympics began this week, and Paris is ready with a controversial new surveillance system that hints at a future of ubiquitous CCTV camera coverage. And researchers revealed new findings this week about the innovative malware Russia used in January to sabotage a heating utility in Lviv and cut heat to 600 Ukrainian buildings at the coldest point in the year.

The US Department of Defense has a $141 billion idea to modernize US intercontinental ballistic missiles and their silos around the country. Meanwhile, the European Commission is allocating €7.3 billion for defense research—from drones and tanks to battleships and space intelligence—over the next seven years. And hackers have established a “ghost” network to quietly spread malware on the Microsoft-owned developer platform GitHub.

In more encouraging news, a former Google engineer has built a prototype search engine, dubbed webXray, meant to allow users to find specific privacy violations online, determine which sites are tracking you, and see where all that data goes.

And there’s more. Each week, we round up the security news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories, and stay safe out there.

**Israel Reportedly Worked to Keep Info on Pegasus Spyware Out of US Courts**

Leaked files obtained by The Guardian reveal that the Israeli government took extraordinary measures to prevent information about the Pegasus spyware system from falling into the hands of US courts, including seizing files directly from the company to prevent legal disclosure. The spyware is the product of the Israel-based NSO Group. It allows users to infect smartphones, extract messages and photos, record calls, and secretly activate microphones. NSO Group faces legal action in the US brought by WhatsApp, which claims the company engineered Pegasus to target users of its messaging software. According to WhatsApp, more than 1,400 of its users were targeted. NSO, whose software has been allegedly tied to the harassment and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has denied any wrongdoing.

**Massive Screwup Leaves BIOS on 200+ Computer Models Vulnerable**

In an effort to thwart BIOS-based threats, prompted in part by the rollout of a powerful rootkit designed by a Chinese researcher in 2007, Secure Boot became a widely adopted tool. Unfortunately, researchers at the security firm Binarly have revealed that Secure Boot is now “completely compromised” on more than 200 device models, affecting major hardware manufacturers like Dell, Acer, and Intel. The incident was the result of a weak cryptographic key used to establish trust between hardware and firmware systems. AMI, the key's owner, says it was meant to be used for testing and should never have made its way into production.

**Musk’s AI system, Grok, Is Now Feeding on All Your Tweets**

Following in Meta's footsteps, Elon Musk's X quietly adjusted its settings this week to give the company's AI system—known as Grok—access to all of its users' posts. There is a way to prevent Grok from ingesting your posts; however, you cannot perform this action from the mobile app. You'll need to access X's **Settings** using a desktop computer; select **Privacy and Safety**, then select **Grok**, and then uncheck the box. Or just head straight here to go directly to the right settings page. (You can also delete your conversation history with Grok, if you have one, by clicking **Delete conversation history**.)

Stop X’s Grok AI From Training on Your Tweets

The Identity Theft Resource Center has published a report showing a 1,170% increase in compromised data victims compared to the same quarter last year.

Nope, that headline’s not a typo. Over one thousand percent.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) tracked 1,041,312,601 data breach victims in Q2 2024, an increase of 1,170% over Q2 2023 (81,958,874 victims).

The ITRC is a national non-profit organization set up with the goal of minimizing the risk and mitigating the impact of identity compromise. Through public and private support, it provides no-cost victim assistance and consumer education.

The vast majority of that rise in numbers in due to a few very large compromises. The ITRC mentions Prudential (2.5 million people) and Infosys McCamish Systems (6 million people) as main contributors.

Because both of these breaches were announced/updated in the second quarter of 2024 they have a huge impact on the numbers. When we compare the number of data breach victims in the first half of 2024 (H1 2024) then we see an increase of 490 percent compared to the first half of 2023. Which is still significant and worrying.

The ITRC broke down some of the numbers to show them in an infographic.

Infographic by ITRC

Some notable statistics we can derive from the infographic:

*   Almost 90% of the compromises in H1 2024 are due to data breaches.
*   Financial services had the most breaches, followed by healthcare.
*   The largest data breaches in number of victims are Ticketmaster, Advance Auto Parts, and Dell.
*   80 supply chain attacks accounted for 446 affected entities and over 10 million victims.

Another trend the ITRC highlights is the increase in stolen driver’s license information. Mostly caused by a post pandemic trend to use driver’s license information for identity confirmation. This has increased both the chances of this information being included in a breach, and increased the value of that information to thieves.

The number of data breaches where driver’s license data was stolen totaled 198 instances in pre-pandemic, full-year 2019 compared to 636 in full-year 2023 and 308 through June 30, 2024.

Most of the data breaches are not the result of negligence but of targeted cyberattacks. This explains the rising demand for data deletion services. Not only does it play a significant role in safeguarding privacy rights on the business side, it also helps avoid or lessen the legal consequences of a breach.

ITRC president and CEO Eva Velasquez summarized the report like this:

> “The takeaway from this report is simple. Every person, business, institution and government agency must view data and identity protection with a greater sense of urgency.”

**Protecting yourself after a data breach**

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

*   **Check the vendor’s advice.** Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened and follow any specific advice they offer.
*   **Change your password.** You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
*   **Enable two-factor authentication (2FA).** If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
*   **Watch out for fake vendors.** The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you using a different communication channel.
*   **Take your time.** Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.
*   **Consider not storing your card details**. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.
*   **Set up identity monitoring.** Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online, and helps you recover after.

**Check your exposure**

Looking at the numbers in the ITRC report, it’s likely you’ve had other personal information exposed online in previous data breaches. You can check what personal information of yours has been exposed with our Digital Footprint portal. Just enter your email address (it’s best to submit the one you most frequently use) to our free Digital Footprint scan, and we’ll give you a report.

**We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identit**y

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your—and your family’s—personal information by using identity protection.

**Summer mega sale**

Go into your vacation knowing you’re much more secure: This summer you can get a huge **50% off a Malwarebytes Standard subscription** or **Malwarebytes Identity bundle**. Run, don’t walk!

 Number of data breach victims goes up 1,000% 

Though the cybersecurity vendor has since reverted the update, chaos continues as companies continue to struggle to get back up and running.

Source: SOPA Images Limited via Alamy Stock Photo

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as new developments occur.

This morning, Microsoft servers across the world displayed the dreaded "blue screen of death," leading to mass IT outages that disrupted business, airlines and flights, healthcare providers, banks, and more. The cause: A defective update to CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, a widely used cloud-based endpoint detection and prevention (EDR) software program.

CrowdStrike said its engineering team has identified the issue that caused the massive disruption to Windows-based systems: A bug in the Memory Scanning prevention policy, which was not identified during their testing stages, Callie Guenther, senior manager at Critical Start, noted in an emailed statement.

"While CrowdStrike likely performed standard regression and functionality tests, these were insufficient because they did not simulate the real-world deployment environment where the bug caused the Falcon sensor to consume 100% of a CPU core," she wrote. This ultimately led to system performance issues.

CrowdStrike has since reverted the flawed Falcon software update. Even so, some users are still experiencing system crashes or are unable to stay online to receive the new and fixed version. The cybersecurity vendor has provided workaround steps for this issue.

In a post on social platform X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company is aware of the issue and is working closely with CrowdStrike to provide technical support to its customers and get their systems back online.

**Falcon Fallout**

The severity of the broken CrowdStrike update became increasingly painful as victim reports rolled in throughout the day: More than 1,300 flights have been canceled or delayed, trains, card payments in stores, pharmacies, and even general practitioner (GP) surgeries were stalled. 

The Department of Health in Belfast reported that two-thirds of GP practices in Northern Ireland have been affected, with patient records inaccessible as well as lab tests and routine prescriptions.

Delta flights have been paused as it "works through a vendor technology issue," the New York Times reported, and Turkish Airlines has canceled at least 84 flights. Employees at financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase and Instinet have had trouble accessing their corporate systems as operations began to stutter.

Even the Paris Olympics organizing committee reports that its IT operations have been affected, mainly affecting delivery of uniforms and accreditations.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has been briefed on the outage, according to the White House, and administration officials are reportedly in touch with affected entities as well as CrowdStrike, which is working with customers that have been impacted.

"Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted," George Kurtz, president and CEO of CrowdStrike, wrote online. "This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified \[and isolated,\] and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website."

**It's Not a Data Breach, but it's a Disaster**

In an industry where cybersecurity practices and services are meant to protect an enterprise without interrupting them, this outage proves that "even non-malicious cybersecurity failures can bring businesses to their knees," according to Maxine Holt, cybersecurity analyst at Omdia.

This massive incident underscores an over-reliance on cloud services, Holt noted in an online statement, and the outage may prompt organizations to reconsider moving their mission-critical applications to the cloud.

"Omdia's Cloud and Data Center analysts have long warned about over-reliance on cloud services," Holt said. "Today's outages will make enterprises rethink moving mission-critical applications off-premises. The ripple effect is massive, hitting CrowdStrike, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, Google, and beyond. CrowdStrike's shares have plummeted by more than 20% in unofficial pre-market trading in the US, translating to a staggering $16 billion loss in value."

As CrowdStrike will undoubtedly face scrutiny as it gets back on its feet, only time will tell how this outage could affect regulation and pressure on software vendors.

"We need stronger regulations and guidance on vendor responsibilities for functional testing," Josh Thorngren, security strategist at ForAllSecure, wrote in an emailed statement. "If you're not testing the behavior of your application under-expected (and unexpected) conditions with every update — this type of issue will always be a risk."

Buggy CrowdStrike EDR Update Crashes Windows Systems Worldwide

Microsoft has released patches to address a total of 143 security flaws as part of its monthly security updates, two of which have come under active exploitation in the wild.
Five out of the 143 flaws are rated Critical, 136 are rated Important, and four are rated Moderate in severity. The fixes are in addition to 33 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in the Chromium-based Edge browser

Endpoint Security / Vulnerability

Microsoft has released patches to address a total of 143 security flaws as part of its monthly security updates, two of which have come under active exploitation in the wild.

Five out of the 143 flaws are rated Critical, 136 are rated Important, and four are rated Moderate in severity. The fixes are in addition to 33 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in the Chromium-based Edge browser over the past month.

The two security shortcomings that have come under exploitation are below -

*   **CVE-2024-38080** (CVSS score: 7.8) - Windows Hyper-V Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
*   **CVE-2024-38112** (CVSS score: 7.5) - Windows MSHTML Platform Spoofing Vulnerability

"Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to take additional actions prior to exploitation to prepare the target environment," Microsoft said of CVE-2024-38112. "An attacker would have to send the victim a malicious file that the victim would have to execute."

Check Point security researcher Haifei Li, who has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw in May 2024, said that threat actors are leveraging specially-crafted Windows Internet Shortcut files (.URL) that, upon clicking, redirects victims to a malicious URL by invoking the retired Internet Explorer (IE) browser.

"An additional trick on IE is used to hide the malicious .HTA extension name," Li explained. "By opening the URL with IE instead of the modern and much more secure Chrome/Edge browser on Windows, the attacker gained significant advantages in exploiting the victim's computer, although the computer is running the modern Windows 10/11 operating system."

"CVE-2024-38080 is an elevation of privilege flaw in Windows Hyper-V," Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer at Tenable, said. "A local, authenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability to elevate privileges to SYSTEM level following an initial compromise of a targeted system."

While the exact specifics surrounding the abuse of CVE-2024-38080 is currently unknown, Narang noted that this is the first of the 44 Hyper-V flaws to come under exploitation in the wild since 2022.

Two other security flaws patched by Microsoft have been listed as publicly known at the time of the release. This includes a side-channel attack called FetchBench (CVE-2024-37985, CVSS score: 5.9) that could enable an adversary to view heap memory from a privileged process running on Arm-based systems.

The second publicly disclosed vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-35264 (CVSS score: 8.1), a remote code execution bug impacting .NET and Visual Studio.

"An attacker could exploit this by closing an http/3 stream while the request body is being processed leading to a race condition," Redmond said in an advisory. "This could result in remote code execution."

Also resolved as part of Patch Tuesday updates are 37 remote code execution flaws affecting the SQL Server Native Client OLE DB Provider, 20 Secure Boot security feature bypass vulnerabilities, three PowerShell privilege escalation bugs, and a spoofing vulnerability in the RADIUS protocol (CVE-2024-3596 aka BlastRADIUS).

"\[The SQL Server flaws\] specifically affect the OLE DB Provider, so not only do SQL Server instances need to be updated, but client code running vulnerable versions of the connection driver will also need to be addressed," Rapid7's Lead Product Manager Greg Wiseman said.

"For example, an attacker could use social engineering tactics to dupe an authenticated user into attempting to connect to a SQL Server database configured to return malicious data, allowing arbitrary code execution on the client."

Rounding off the long list of patches is CVE-2024-38021 (CVSS score: 8.8), a remote code execution flaw in Microsoft Office that, if successfully exploited, could permit an attacker to gain high privileges, including read, write, and delete functionality.

Morphisec, which reported the flaw to Microsoft in late April 2024, said the vulnerability does not require any authentication and poses a severe risk due to its zero-click nature.

"Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access, execute arbitrary code, and cause substantial damage without any user interaction," Michael Gorelik said. "The absence of authentication requirements makes it particularly dangerous, as it opens the door to widespread exploitation."

The fixes come as Microsoft announced late last month that it will begin issuing CVE identifiers for cloud-related security vulnerabilities going forward in an attempt to improve transparency.

**Software Patches from Other Vendors**

In addition to Microsoft, security updates have also been released by other vendors in the past few weeks to rectify several vulnerabilities, including —

*   Adobe
*   Amazon Web Services
*   AMD
*   Apple
*   Arm
*   Broadcom (including VMware)
*   Cisco
*   Citrix
*   CODESYS
*   D-Link
*   Dell
*   Drupal
*   Emerson
*   F5
*   Fortinet
*   Fortra FileCatalyst Workflow
*   GitLab
*   Google Android
*   Google Chrome
*   Google Cloud
*   Google Pixel
*   Google Wear OS
*   Hitachi Energy
*   HP
*   HP Enterprise
*   IBM
*   Ivanti
*   Jenkins
*   Juniper Networks
*   Lenovo
*   Linux distributions Amazon Linux, Debian, Oracle Linux, Red Hat, Rocky Linux, SUSE, and Ubuntu
*   MediaTek
*   Mitsubishi Electric
*   MongoDB
*   Mozilla Firefox and Firefox ESR
*   NETGEAR
*   NVIDIA
*   OpenSSH
*   Progress Software
*   QNAP
*   Qualcomm
*   Rockwell Automation
*   Samsung
*   SAP
*   Schneider Electric
*   Siemens
*   Splunk
*   Spring Framework
*   TP-Link
*   Veritas
*   WordPress, and
*   Zoom

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Microsoft's July Update Patches 143 Flaws, Including Two Actively Exploited

Red Hat Security Advisory 2024-4352-03 - An update for kernel-rt is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. Issues addressed include double free, memory leak, null pointer, spoofing, and use-after-free vulnerabilities.

The following advisory data is extracted from:

https://access.redhat.com/security/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2024/rhsa-2024_4352.json

Red Hat officially shut down their mailing list notifications October 10, 2023.  Due to this, Packet Storm has recreated the below data as a reference point to raise awareness.  It must be noted that due to an inability to easily track revision updates without crawling Red Hat's archive, these advisories are single notifications and we strongly suggest that you visit the Red Hat provided links to ensure you have the latest information available if the subject matter listed pertains to your environment.

- Packet Storm Staff

====================================================================  
Red Hat Security Advisory

Synopsis:           Important: kernel-rt security and bug fix update  
Advisory ID:        RHSA-2024:4352-03  
Product:            Red Hat Enterprise Linux  
Advisory URL:       https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:4352  
Issue date:         2024-07-08  
Revision:           03  
CVE Names:          CVE-2020-26555  
====================================================================

Summary: 

An update for kernel-rt is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

[Updated 03 July 2024]

The text of this advisory has been updated with the correct product name (Red  
Hat Enterprise Linux 8) in the Topics section. In the Problem Description  
section, CVEs of the same sub-components have been grouped together. The  
packages included in this revised update have not been changed in any way from  
the packages included in the original advisory.

Description:

The kernel-rt packages provide the Real Time Linux Kernel, which enables fine-tuning for systems with extremely high determinism requirements.

Security Fix(es):

* kernel: tls (CVE-2024-26585,CVE-2024-26584, CVE-2024-26583

* kernel-rt: kernel: PCI interrupt mapping cause oops [rhel-8] (CVE-2021-46909)

* kernel: ipc/mqueue, msg, sem: avoid relying on a stack reference past its expiry (CVE-2021-47069)

* kernel: hwrng: core - Fix page fault dead lock on mmap-ed hwrng (CVE-2023-52615)

* kernel-rt: kernel: drm/amdgpu: use-after-free vulnerability (CVE-2024-26656)

* kernel: Bluetooth: Avoid potential use-after-free in hci_error_reset CVE-2024-26801)

* kernel: Squashfs: check the inode number is not the invalid value of zero  (CVE-2024-26982)

* kernel: netfilter: nf_tables: use timestamp to check for set element timeout (CVE-2024-27397)

* kernel: wifi: mac80211: (CVE-2024-35789, CVE-2024-35838, CVE-2024-35845)

* kernel: wifi: nl80211: reject iftype change with mesh ID change (CVE-2024-27410)

* kernel: perf/core: Bail out early if the request AUX area is out of bound (CVE-2023-52835)

* kernel:TCP-spoofed ghost ACKs and leak initial sequence number (CVE-2023-52881)

* kernel: Bluetooth BR/EDR PIN Pairing procedure is vulnerable to an impersonation attack (CVE-2020-26555)

* kernel: ovl: fix leaked dentry (CVE-2021-46972)

* kernel: platform/x86: dell-smbios-wmi: Fix oops on rmmod dell_smbios (CVE-2021-47073)

* kernel: mm/damon/vaddr-test: memory leak in damon_do_test_apply_three_regions() (CVE-2023-52560)

* kernel: ppp_async: limit MRU to 64K (CVE-2024-26675)

* kernel: mm/swap: fix race when skipping swapcache (CVE-2024-26759)

* kernel: RDMA/mlx5: Fix fortify source warning while accessing Eth segment (CVE-2024-26907)

* kernel: x86/mm: Disallow vsyscall page read for copy_from_kernel_nofault() (CVE-2024-26906)

* kernel: net: ip_tunnel: prevent perpetual headroom growth (CVE-2024-26804)

* kernel: net/usb: kalmia: avoid printing uninitialized value on error path (CVE-2023-52703)

* kernel: KVM: SVM: improper check in svm_set_x2apic_msr_interception allows direct access to host x2apic msrs (CVE-2023-5090)

* kernel: EDAC/thunderx: Incorrect buffer size in drivers/edac/thunderx_edac.c (CVE-2023-52464)

* kernel: ipv6: sr: fix possible use-after-free and null-ptr-deref (CVE-2024-26735)

* kernel: mptcp: fix data re-injection from stale subflow (CVE-2024-26826)

* kernel: net/bnx2x: Prevent access to a freed page in page_pool (CVE-2024-26859)

* kernel: crypto: (CVE-2024-26974, CVE-2023-52813)

* kernel: can: (CVE-2023-52878, CVE-2021-47456)

* kernel: usb: (CVE-2023-52781, CVE-2023-52877)

* kernel: net/mlx5e: fix a potential double-free in fs_any_create_groups (CVE-2023-52667)

* kernel: usbnet: sanity check for maxpacket (CVE-2021-47495)

* kernel: gro: fix ownership transfer (CVE-2024-35890)

* kernel: erspan: make sure erspan_base_hdr is present in skb->head (CVE-2024-35888)

* kernel: tipc: fix kernel warning when sending SYN message (CVE-2023-52700)

* kernel: net/mlx5/mlxsw: (CVE-2024-35960, CVE-2024-36007, CVE-2024-35855)

* kernel: net/mlx5e: (CVE-2024-35959, CVE-2023-52626, CVE-2024-35835)

* kernel: mlxsw: (CVE-2024-35854, CVE-2024-35853, CVE-2024-35852)

* kernel: net: (CVE-2024-35958, CVE-2021-47311, CVE-2021-47236, CVE-2021-47310)

* kernel: i40e: Do not use WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag for workqueue (CVE-2024-36004)

* kernel: mISDN: fix possible use-after-free in HFC_cleanup() (CVE-2021-47356)

* kernel: udf: Fix NULL pointer dereference in udf_symlink function (CVE-2021-47353)

Bug Fix(es):

* kernel-rt: update RT source tree to the latest RHEL-8.10.z kernel (JIRA:RHEL-40882)

* [rhel8.9][cxgb4]BUG: using smp_processor_id() in preemptible [00000000] code: ethtool/54735 (JIRA:RHEL-8779)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Solution:

https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258

CVEs:

CVE-2020-26555

References:

https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1918601  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2248122  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2258875  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265517  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265519  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265520  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265800  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2266408  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2266831  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267513  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267518  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267730  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2270093  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2271680  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2272692  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2272829  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273204  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273278  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273423  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273429  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275604  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275633  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275635  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275733  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278337  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278354  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2280434  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281057  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281113  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281157  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281165  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281251  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281253  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281255  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281257  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281272  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281350  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281689  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281693  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281920  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281923  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281925  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281953  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281986  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282394  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282400  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282471  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282472  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282581  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282609  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282612  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282653  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282680  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282698  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282712  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282735  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282902  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282920

Red Hat Security Advisory 2024-4352-03

Red Hat Security Advisory 2024-4211-03 - An update for kernel is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. Issues addressed include double free, memory leak, null pointer, spoofing, and use-after-free vulnerabilities.

The following advisory data is extracted from:

https://access.redhat.com/security/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2024/rhsa-2024_4211.json

Red Hat officially shut down their mailing list notifications October 10, 2023.  Due to this, Packet Storm has recreated the below data as a reference point to raise awareness.  It must be noted that due to an inability to easily track revision updates without crawling Red Hat's archive, these advisories are single notifications and we strongly suggest that you visit the Red Hat provided links to ensure you have the latest information available if the subject matter listed pertains to your environment.

- Packet Storm Staff

====================================================================  
Red Hat Security Advisory

Synopsis:           Important: kernel security and bug fix update  
Advisory ID:        RHSA-2024:4211-03  
Product:            Red Hat Enterprise Linux  
Advisory URL:       https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:4211  
Issue date:         2024-07-02  
Revision:           03  
CVE Names:          CVE-2020-26555  
====================================================================

Summary: 

An update for kernel is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Moderate. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

Description:

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.

Security Fix(es):

* kernel: Bluetooth BR/EDR PIN Pairing procedure is vulnerable to an impersonation attack (CVE-2020-26555)

* kernel:TCP-spoofed ghost ACKs and leak leak initial sequence number (CVE-2023-52881,RHV-2024-1001)

* kernel: ovl: fix leaked dentry (CVE-2021-46972)

* kernel: platform/x86: dell-smbios-wmi: Fix oops on rmmod dell_smbios (CVE-2021-47073)

* kernel: mm/damon/vaddr-test: memory leak in damon_do_test_apply_three_regions() (CVE-2023-52560)

* kernel: ppp_async: limit MRU to 64K (CVE-2024-26675)

* kernel: mm/swap: fix race when skipping swapcache (CVE-2024-26759)

* kernel: net: ip_tunnel: prevent perpetual headroom growth (CVE-2024-26804)

* kernel: RDMA/mlx5: Fix fortify source warning while accessing Eth segment (CVE-2024-26907)

* kernel: x86/mm: Disallow vsyscall page read for copy_from_kernel_nofault() (CVE-2024-26906)

* kernel: powerpc/powernv: Add a null pointer check in opal_event_init() (CVE-2023-52686)

* kernel: powerpc/imc-pmu: Add a null pointer check in update_events_in_group() (CVE-2023-52675)

* kernel: KVM: SVM: improper check in svm_set_x2apic_msr_interception allows direct access to host x2apic msrs (CVE-2023-5090)

* kernel: EDAC/thunderx: Incorrect buffer size in drivers/edac/thunderx_edac.c (CVE-2023-52464)

* kernel: ipv6: sr: fix possible use-after-free and null-ptr-deref (CVE-2024-26735)

* kernel: mptcp: fix data re-injection from stale subflow (CVE-2024-26826)

* kernel: net/bnx2x: Prevent access to a freed page in page_pool (CVE-2024-26859)

* kernel: crypto: qat - resolve race condition during AER recovery (CVE-2024-26974)

* kernel: net/mlx5e: fix a potential double-free in fs_any_create_groups (CVE-2023-52667)

* kernel: net/mlx5: Properly link new fs rules into the tree (CVE-2024-35960)

* kernel: net/mlx5e: Fix mlx5e_priv_init() cleanup flow (CVE-2024-35959)

* kernel: net: ena: Fix incorrect descriptor free behavior (CVE-2024-35958)

* kernel: i40e: Do not use WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag for workqueue (CVE-2024-36004)

* kernel: mISDN: fix possible use-after-free in HFC_cleanup() (CVE-2021-47356)

* kernel: udf: Fix NULL pointer dereference in udf_symlink function (CVE-2021-47353)

* kernel: net: ti: fix UAF in tlan_remove_one (CVE-2021-47310)

Bug Fix(es):

* Kernel panic - kernel BUG at mm/slub.c:376! (JIRA:RHEL-29783)

* Temporary values in FIPS integrity test should be zeroized [rhel-8.10.z] (JIRA:RHEL-35361)

* RHEL8.6 - kernel: s390/cpum_cf: make crypto counters upward compatible (JIRA:RHEL-36048)

* [RHEL8] blktests block/024 failed (JIRA:RHEL-8130)

* RHEL8.9: EEH injections results  Error:  Power fault on Port 0 and other call traces(Everest/1050/Shiner) (JIRA:RHEL-14195)

* Latency spikes with Matrox G200 graphic cards (JIRA:RHEL-36172)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact,   
            a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s)  
            listed in the References section.

Solution:

https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258

CVEs:

CVE-2020-26555

References:

https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1918601  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2248122  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2258875  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265517  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265519  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265520  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2265800  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2266408  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2266831  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267513  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267518  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2267730  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2270093  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2271680  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2272692  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2272829  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273204  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273278  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273423  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273429  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275604  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275633  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275635  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275733  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278337  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2278354  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2280434  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281057  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281113  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281157  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281165  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281251  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281253  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281255  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281257  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281272  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281311  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281334  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281346  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281350  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281689  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281693  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281920  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281923  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281925  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281953  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2281986  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282394  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282400  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282471  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282472  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282581  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282609  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282612  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282653  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282680  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282698  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282712  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282735  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282902  
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2282920

Red Hat Security Advisory 2024-4211-03

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has joined US intelligence officials in ignoring repeated inquiries about Israel’s “malign” efforts to covertly influence US voters.

Federal lawmakers in the US have dodged repeated inquiries over the past week about a covert operation ordered by the Israeli government to artificially boost support among Americans for its war in Gaza. At the same time, senior White House officials charged with advising President Joe Biden on matters of national security are claiming to have no knowledge of the operation—first disclosed publicly more than four months ago.

The operation, formally tied to the Israeli government by a New York Times reporter last week, kicked off in October 2023 following the surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel. Researchers internationally began work to expose the campaign in February, identifying a flood of “suspicious accounts” on US-based social networking apps, most masquerading as Americans avowing support for the Israeli military response.

In addition to eroding support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides assistance to 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, a chief aim of the Israeli operation, researchers say, was to sway the opinions of Black Americans. Per the Times—which cited four current and former Israeli officials in confirming their government had commissioned the campaign—its primary targets included the account of US congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House, among others who are “Black and Democratic.”

Accounts tied to the operation—many of which, at the time of writing, remain active on X, despite being suspended on other platforms—promoted a Black Lives Matter hashtag and shared images of Martin Luther King Jr. alongside fabricated quotes. A website created for the operation included articles with titles such as “The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and Their Support of Jewish People and Israel.”

Several examples of accounts used in the operation, many of which were created weeks prior to the Hamas attack on October 7 that killed an estimated 1,200 people, advertised themselves as “Christian.” One of the stolen identities used in the operation, first identified by a researcher in Qatar, was that of Kyle Jean-Baptiste, an up-and-coming Broadway star who died in 2015 after falling from a fire escape.

**Got a Tip?**

_If you have information about the work of the intelligence community or its congressional overseers, contact Dell Cameron at dell\_cameron@wired.com or via Signal at dell.3030._

Multiple inquiries placed with senior members of Jeffries’ staff, including his communications director, Andy Eichar, have gone unacknowledged for nearly a week. WIRED has attempted to resolve whether Jeffries ever received notification of the operation from US intelligence while Congress was in the midst of debating $14 billion in funding to supplement Israel’s war effort.

Israeli forces have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians since Hamas’ October 7 attack, according to Gaza health officials’ estimates, including dozens last Thursday at a United Nations school compound, where the Israeli military is accused of making “improper use” of a US-made bomb.

With the exception of the White House’s National Security Council, which on Thursday claimed to have no knowledge of the operation, and Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner, whose office told WIRED it planned to request a briefing on the matter, press inquiries concerning Israel’s attempts to secretly influence US opinion on the war have been met with a stonewall.

It is unclear whether Biden may have received a briefing on the operation that included information not shared with his own national security advisers. Said a spokesperson for the National Security Council: “We take all allegations of foreign malign influence seriously.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Avril Haines—formerly No. 2 at the CIA—declined to say whether US intelligence had any knowledge of the operation prior to the June 5 New York Times’ story. It would not reveal whether it issued any notifications to Jeffries or any other US officials targeted by Israel.

The ODNI maintains what it calls a “disclosure framework” for notifying victims of influence operations connected with US elections. It is unclear, however, whether the ODNI considers the operation election-related, despite national elections approaching and the deep political divide among US voters over Congress’ support for the Israeli war effort.

Haines has previously spoken publicly on how US intelligence responds to this scenario: “When relevant intelligence is collected concerning a foreign influence operation aimed at our election,” she said, a “notification framework” exists to ensure “appropriate notice is given to those who are being targeted so that they can take action.”

Multiple attempts to solicit comment over the past week from the House Intelligence Committee have likewise gone unacknowledged by representatives Mike Turner and Jim Himes, the committee’s chair and ranking member, respectively. It is unclear whether they are taking steps similar to their Senate counterparts to investigate the matter.

Many of the Israeli operation’s fake posts were found to have been generated using ChatGPT, the digital assistant software developed by OpenAI, which is being integrated into everything from Apple’s new iPhones to the next Microsoft Windows operating system. Notably, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, was recently appointed an adviser to the Homeland Security Department. According to the agency, his role is to advise the US government on how to “prevent and prepare for AI-related disruptions.”

Both OpenAI and social media giant Meta have publicly confirmed that the operation was launched by a Tel Aviv–based company called Stoic. Neither US company, however, has disclosed having any knowledge of Stoic being commissioned by the Israeli government.

Oft described as an Israeli “campaign marketing firm,” Stoic is reminiscent of Russia’s Internet Research Agency, which similarly used fake accounts registered on social media to promote the Kremlin’s interests, namely by working to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. OpenAI disclosed earlier this month that Stoic had similarly been tracked using fraudulent accounts in an effort to influence the outcome of India’s recent elections.

Meta and OpenAI have not responded to requests for comment.

A US intelligence assessment published in February that identified threats from foreign countries accused of launching malign influence operations against the US references Israel dozens of times; however, it strictly portrays the Middle East ally as the victim of such campaigns.

The annual assessment, published by the ODNI three days after Israel’s “multi-platform deception operation” was first revealed publicly by Marc Owen Jones—an assistant professor of Qatar University specializing in disinformation—speaks only broadly of the influence efforts of US rivals and contains few if any details about any specific operations. The report mentions, for instance, that the Chinese government “reportedly targeted” US politicians on TikTok using accounts run by a propaganda office ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

The revelation of Israel’s involvement follows months of hearings in Washington concerning the impact of what US intelligence calls “malign foreign influence campaigns.” Much of the focus by lawmakers centered on allegations that China might potentially manipulate TikTok to sway public opinion in the US.

Jeffries, who is rumored to be the Democratic party’s next choice to become Speaker of the House, was among the 360 US representatives to support taking drastic steps in April that may soon lead to a ban on TikTok in US app stores.

Jeffries has joined other US leaders in extending an invitation to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress next month. A letter from Jeffries and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell to the prime minister last week read: “To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America's solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government's vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”

_Update 1 pm ET, June 11, 2024: Added additional details about the Israeli influence campaign._

US Leaders Dodge Questions About Israel’s Influence Campaign

In response to recent public outcry, Recall is getting new security accouterments. Will that be enough to quell concerns?

Source: Photo 12 via Alamy Stock Photo

Microsoft is adding new security measures to assuage widely publicized concerns over its new "Recall" AI feature. Some, though, still aren't convinced the company went far enough.

It's now just eight days until Microsoft releases Recall, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-driven program that will periodically take, store, and analyze screenshots of Copilot+ PCs as they're being used day-to-day. Recall is supposed to act like a kind of memory bank, allowing users to instantly find and reference things they've come across recently: apps, websites, images, and documents.

From the outset, Recall has been criticized as a potential goldmine for personal data theft. The noise got loud enough that, on Friday, Microsoft announced three new security-oriented updates for it:

*   In a reversal of its initial stance, Microsoft will now ship Recall turned off by default.
    
*   Users will need to enroll in Windows Hello in order to enable it, and so-called "proof of presence" will be required to use its primary features.
    
*   Recall data will be encrypted, and only decrypted and accessible once a user authenticates via Windows Hello.
    

Though they may represent a step in the right direction, experts remain skeptical that these changes will be enough to protect users' most sensitive passwords, photos, personally identifying information (PII), and financial information from hackers.

**Risks in Recall: A Case Study**

Many security experts cringed when Recall was announced, but few more than Marc-André Moreau, CTO of Devolutions. He worried that Windows' newest toy would inevitably capture and store visible passwords from his company's software for managing remote connections. With such passwords in hand, hackers would be able to easily connect to and manipulate any victim PC.

"Looking at documentation for how Recall works," he recalls, "it literally said that it wouldn't make an effort of removing sensitive information, credentials, or PII — anything which you would want scraped out, it would just keep in local files."

Microsoft's logic, it seemed, was that because Recall screenshots were stored only on the user's machine, they would remain safe from remote access. "Microsoft has this new chip which makes it possible to do the processing locally, and they thought that everybody would be fine since the data isn't uploaded to the cloud," Moreau explains. "But you wouldn't install a keylogger on your machine just because the files are stored locally. Files can be grabbed by malware. So why would you enable Recall?"

To demonstrate the point, he performed a simple red team exercise. In his telling, "I didn't have to do much. I just set up an environment, used some tool that somebody made online to force-install it, and then I installed \[Devolutions'\] Remote Desktop Manager. I clicked 'view password,' then 'record,' and then I found the database. I opened it, and I could see the extracted password alongside the screenshot that includes the password."

> Here's Recall capturing temporarily visible passwords from Remote Desktop Manager in a test Azure VM. It's less effective that I would have thought, the search results are screenshots, and it's unclear how one can obtain the full OCR text it used for the match pic.twitter.com/RUiLs57bKz  
> — Marc-André Moreau (@awakecoding) June 3, 2024

Other researchers have also found simple ways of accessing sensitive data in Recall screenshots. One has already developed and released an open source tool to help speed up the job.

To try to protect his customers, Moreau next looked for a way to exclude his company's software from Recall by default. He came up short.

**Are Microsoft's New Updates Enough?**

Users will have more control over their data privacy now, thanks to Microsoft's turning off Recall by default.

Moreau is skeptical, though, that Windows Hello can be fully and properly integrated into Recall without delaying its preview release, which is mere days away. "I'm in software, things don't happen that fast," he says.

Dark Reading reached out to Microsoft for comment on how it will be able to marry Windows Hello and Recall in time for June 18. In response, Microsoft said in a statement: "As we shared in our May 3 blog, security is our top priority at Microsoft, in line with our ⁠Secure Future Initiative (SFI), and we are evaluating Recall through that lens. As we implement SFI across Microsoft, we may shift some feature release dates and will update our public roadmaps as this happens."

In the barely a month since that blog post, and Satya Nadella's letter "prioritizing security above all else," for some critics, Recall recalls other AI products that are getting rushed to market.

Ironically, AI could well solve these programs' most pressing security flaws. "I could upload a Recall screenshot to ChatGPT today and tell it to identify the data which looks sensitive, and it will be able to," Moreau notes. "They could have used their AI chip to help solve this \[data leakage\] but they didn't even try. They were too eager to ship."

**About the Author(s)**

Nate Nelson is a freelance writer based in New York City. Formerly a reporter at Threatpost, he contributes to a number of cybersecurity blogs and podcasts. He writes "Malicious Life" -- an award-winning Top 20 tech podcast on Apple and Spotify -- and hosts every other episode, featuring interviews with leading voices in security. He also co-hosts "The Industrial Security Podcast," the most popular show in its field.

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