Privilege escalation in Microsoft Windows

1) Privilege escalation

EUVDB-ID: #VU5184

Risk: Critical

CVSSv3.1: 8.1 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-4077

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote authenticated attacker to obtain elevated privileges on the target system.

The weakness exists due to improper access control in Microsoft implementation of Input Method Editor (IME) for Japanese language. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted file designed to invoke a vulnerable sandboxed application, trick the victim into opening it, gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code with privileges of the current user.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Windows: 7 - Vista

Windows Server: 2003 - 2008

External links

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms14-078

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote authenticated user via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

Yes. This vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.