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Microsoft Django Backend for SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

March’s Patch Tuesday is relatively light, containing 60 vulnerabilities — only two labeled “critical.”

**What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability?** An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges.

**According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is network (AV:N) and the user interaction is required (UI:R). What is the target context of the remote code execution?** An authenticated victim who is connected to the network must be tricked or persuaded to connect to a malicious SQL database using their SQL client application. After the connection is made, the server can send specially crafted replies to the client that exploit the vulnerability and permit execution of arbitrary code within the context of the user's SQL client application.

**According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is network (AV:N) and the user interaction is required (UI:R). What is the target context of the remote code execution?** An authenticated victim who is connected to the network must be tricked or persuaded to connect to a malicious SQL database using their SQL client application. After the connection is made, the server can send specially crafted replies to the client that exploit the vulnerability and permit execution of arbitrary code within the context of the user's SQL client application.

**According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is information disclosure?** The attack itself is carried out locally. For example, when the score indicates that the **Attack Vector** is **Local** (AV:L) and **User Interaction** is **Required** (UI:R), this could describe an exploit in which an attacker, through social engineering, convinces a victim to download and run a malicious application. This could lead to a local attack on the user's device which could leak data.

**How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?** An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by tricking an authenticated user into attempting to connect to a malicious SQL server via OLEDB, which could result in the server receiving a malicious networking packet. This could allow the attacker to execute code remotely on the client.

**According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do?** An attacker must send the user a malicious file and convince them to open it.

**What kind of security feature could be bypassed by successfully exploiting this vulnerability?** An authenticated attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could prevent Microsoft Defender from starting.

**How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?** An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by tricking an authenticated user into attempting to connect to a malicious SQL server via OLEDB, which could result in the server receiving a malicious networking packet. This could allow the attacker to execute code remotely on the client.