Kaspersky Secure VPN vulnerability could have given hackers the keys to the kingdom

Date:
Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:27:24 +0000

Description:
No evidence of the exploit being used in the wild, but researchers urge users to apply the fix right now.

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Kaspersky has patched a major flaw in one of its VPN products which, had a malicious actor discovered it sooner, could have been abused to give them elevated privileges in a third-party environment.

The company confirmed these findings in a security advisory in which it also urged its users to patch their systems immediately. In early March this year, a researcher from the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center (CyRC), Zeeshan Shaikh, found an escalation of privilege flaw in Kasperskys VPN Secure Connection for Windows. This flaw would allow users to change their account status from regular to admin, essentially. In Windows, the account is called SYSTEM, it was explained.

In the Support Tools part of the application, a regular user can use delete service data and reports to remove a privileged folder, CyRC explains. And with that capability, an attacker can gain elevated privileges. High-risk

The flaw is now tracked as CVE-2022-27535, and carries a severity score of 7.8. That puts it in the high-risk category, but not quite critical.
According to Kaspersky, there is no evidence of the flaw being exploited in the wild, so it good news that noone seems to have gotten hurt. Still, users are advised to apply the fix and bring their VPNs up to version 21.6 or
later.

Cybercriminals often prey on unpatched devices, as unattended known vulnerabilities are often considered low-hanging fruit. Read more

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According to CyRC, Kaspersky took almost a month to confirm Shaikhs findings, and said it released a fix in late May. Shaikh was able to validate the fix
in late July.

Although no harm was done, the irony of the situation is that software such
as the Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection for Windows is built to protect people from breaches, not be the root cause of one. VPN software is built to mask a devices internet protocol address, encrypt data and route it through secure networks to servers often located abroad. Get your employees connected safely online with the best business VPNs around



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/kaspersky-secure-vpn-vulnerability-could-have-g iven-hackers-the-keys-to-the-kingdom/


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