WEEKEND VULNERABILITY AND PATCH REPORT

April 14, 2013

The following software vulnerabilities and updates were announced by Citadel Information Group.  They strongly recommend that readers update their computers and take other action as indicated.  This is from an e-mail received from Stan Stahl, Ph.D. [www.citadel-information.com] and posted with his approval.

Special Security Alert

Microsoft Patch Tuesday: KrebsOnSecurity.com writes that Microsoft is encouraging users to pay strict attention to this weeks patching regarding Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-036. Those who haven't installed it yet should hold off on MS13-036, a security update that Microsoft released earlier this week to fix a dangerous security bug in its Windows operating system. Microsoft is seeing a spike in complaints from Windows users who found their machines unbootable after applying the update. Instructions to uninstall are available on Microsoft's website.

WordPress Websites: As reported in this week's Cyber Security News of the Week, KrebsOnSecurity.com writes if you have a website developed in WordPress or Joomla!, know your website may be under attack. Citadel strongly recommends you contact your webmaster and 1) set the account lockout threshold to be 5 or less, and 2) make sure the administrative password is complex and at least 15 characters long. See Citadel's blog post "Three Rules for Password Sanity." As a general rule, Citadel also recommends ensuring your webmaster keeps your WordPress and Joomla! installations patched and up to date. Further, ensure your webmaster or IT personnel keep servers patched and up to date.

Important Security Updates

Adobe Coldsion: Adobe has released updates to several versions of ColdFusion to fix highly critical vulnerabilities reported in versions 10, 9.0.2, 9.0.1 and 9.0 for Windows, Mac and UNIX. Specific steps for the updates are available from Adobe's website.

Adobe Flash Player: Adobe has released version 11.7.700.169 to fix highly critical vulnerabilities in its Flash Player. Updates are available from Adobe's website. Updates are also available for Adobe AIR

Adobe Flash Player for the Android: Adobe has released an update to fix highly critical vulnerabilities in its Flash Player for the Android. Updates are available through the device.

Adobe Shockwave Player: Adobe has released version 12.0.2.122 for both Windows and Mac to fix several critical vulnerabilities in earlier versions of its Shockwave Player. Updates are available from Adobe's website.

Google Chrome Flash Player: Google has released an updated version of Chrome to fix several highly critical vulnerabilities due to a bundled vulnerable version of Adobe Flash Player. Update to version 26.0.1410.63 for Mac and Linux or 26.0.1410.64 for Windows. Update through Chrome settings or go to Chrome's website.  

Microsoft Patch Tuesday: Microsoft released several updates addressing at least 13 security vulnerabilities, some of which are highly critical, in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Server Software, Silverlight, Remote Desktop, and Windows Defender Anti-malware program on Windows 8. Updates are available via Windows Update or from Automatic Update. See Special Security Alert above.

Mozilla Firefox: Mozilla has released version 20.0.1 of Firefox to fix at least 10 highly critical vulnerabilities that remain unpatched in previous versions. Updates are available through the program or Firefox's website. Updates are also available for Thunderbird and SeaMonkey.

Current Software Versions

Adobe Flash 11.7.700.169 [Windows 7: IE9, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera]

Adobe Flash 11.7.700.169 [Windows 8: IE]

Adobe Flash 11.7.700.169 [Macintosh OS X: Firefox, Opera, Safari]

Adobe Reader 11.0.02

Dropbox 1.6.11 [Citadel warns against relying on Dropbox security. We recommend files containing sensitive information be independently encrypted with a program like Axcrypt; encryption keys be at least 15 characters long; and the Dropbox password be at least 15 characters long and different from other passwords.]

Firefox 20.0.1 [Windows]

Google Chrome 26.0.1410.64

Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.16521 [Windows 7: IE]

Internet Explorer 10.0.9200.16519 [Windows 8: IE]

Java SE 7 Update 17 [Citadel recommends removing or disabling Java from your browser. Java is a major source of cyber criminal exploits. It is not needed for most internet browsing. If you have particular web sites that requires Java, Citadel recommends using a two-browser approach to minimize risk. If you normally browse the Web with Firefox, for example, disable the Java plugin in Firefox and use an alternative browser - such as Chrome, IE9, Safari, etc - with Java enabled to browse only the sites that require it.]

QuickTime 7.7.3 (1680.64)

Safari 5.1.7  [Windows]

Safari 6.0.3 [Mac OS X]

Skype 6.3.0.105

Newly Announced Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Cisco Linksys EA2700 Wireless Router: Threatpost reports several unpatched highly critical vulnerabilities in Cisco's Linksys EA2700 Network Manager N600 Wireless-N router. There is currently no patch at this time.  

For an updated list of previously announced Unpatched Vulnerabilities, please see the resources section of Citadel's website.

For Your IT Department

Cisco Multiple Products: Cisco has released updates for multiple products, including its IOS products, Prime Network Control System, Firewall Services, ASA Software,  and AnyConnect VPN. Apply appropriate updates.

Novell Identity Manager: Novell has released an update for its Identify Manager. Apply appropriate patches. 

 

If you are responsible for the security of your computer, Citadel's Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report is for you. We strongly urge you to take action to keep your workstation patched and updated.

If someone else is responsible for the security of your computer, forward our Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report to them and follow up to make sure your computer has been patched and updated.

Vulnerability management is a key element of cyber security management. Cyber criminals take over user computers by writing computer programs that "exploit" vulnerabilities in operating systems (Windows, Apple OS, etc) and application programs (Adobe Acrobat, Office, Flash, Java, etc). When software companies find a vulnerability, they usually issue an update patch to fix the code running in their customer's computers.

Citadel publishes our Weekend Vulnerability and Patch Report to alert readers to some of the week's important updates and vulnerabilities. Our focus is on software typically found in the small or home office (SOHO) or that users are likely to have on their home computer. The report is not intended to be a thorough listing of updates and vulnerabilities.

Copyright © 2013 Citadel Information Group. All rights reserved.