Microsoft’s December Patch-tastrophe: 71 Fixes and a Windows Zero-Day in Your Stocking
Microsoft’s December 2024 Patch Tuesday brings 71 patches, including a Windows zero-day vulnerability actively exploited for privilege escalation. The Windows CLFS zero-day bug has a CVSS score of 7.8 and allows attackers to gain SYSTEM-level privileges. Ransomware operators are particularly fond of exploiting CLFS flaws. Merry patching, security admins!
Hot Take:
Oh, Microsoft, what a festive season you’ve given us! Forget about a white Christmas; it’s more like a patchwork quilt of vulnerabilities. Santa’s sleigh is overloaded this year, and he’s delivering not gifts, but 71 patches to keep your systems cozy and secure. Meanwhile, the real Grinch this holiday season is the Windows zero-day exploit that could make your servers feel like they’re on the naughty list.
Key Points:
- Microsoft’s December 2024 Patch Tuesday includes 71 patches, making it the second-most prolific year for patches after 2020.
- The actively exploited zero-day vulnerability, CVE-2024-49138, allows privilege escalation via Windows CLFS Driver.
- Critical CVEs include remote-code execution vulnerabilities in LDAP, Hyper-V, and Remote Desktop Services.
- Security experts emphasize the need for immediate patching due to potential severe impacts.
- Additional vulnerabilities in ReFS and AI projects highlight diverse security challenges.