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Kaspersky Lab Finds Flash Vulnerability Through Microsoft Word (neowin.net)

Posted by BeauHD on from the security-bulletin dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Neowin: Kaspersky Lab, which has been under fire by the U.S. government as possibly being an agent of the Russian government and spying on U.S. computers, has found a previously unknown bug in Adobe Flash that was apparently exploited by a hacker group on October 10. Adobe issued a patch to fix the bug today. According to Kaspersky, "the exploit is delivered through a Microsoft Word document and deploys the FinSpy commercial malware." The company worked with Adobe to get a patch ready as quickly as possible, with Adobe releasing it a few hours ago. Users and agencies running the following versions of Adobe Flash will need to update immediately, as the vulnerability has been labeled as critical. The patch updates all versions of Adobe Flash to version 27.0.0.170.

50 comments

  1. What?!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those Russian basta... Oh, um, well, thank you for pointing out this vulnerability.

    1. Re:What?!!! by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Those Russian basta... Oh, um, well, thank you for pointing out this vulnerability.

      Now that the US is pressuring people to dump their product, they should only tell their customers - at least for a week or two - when they find big new threat like this.

      Want the warnings in a timely fashion? Pay up! B-)

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    2. Re:What?!!! by chainsaw1 · · Score: 1

      Stuff like this has limited value due to the delivery mechanism, particularly when your thinking at the level of "by a nation-state against a nation -state". It would feasibly be worthwhile to let the small stuff go through to build reputation while not disclosing larger / more widespread / network direct access exploits.

      I'm not saying anyone is innocent or guilty, just that something like this does not disprove any of the investigations.

      --
      - Sig
    3. Re:What?!!! by jbengt · · Score: 1

      Well, TFA said that the vulnerability was discovered by McAfee, so it probably has something to do with hookers and designer drugs, rather than Russians.

    4. Re:What?!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're burning some 0days to save face after being exposed for the FSB arm they'll always be.

      Ivan can twist a smile just as well as he can twist the knife.

    5. Re:What?!!! by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I saw no such thing. But, this begs the question of who runs flash these days?

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    6. Re:What?!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      has clinton blamed Kaspersky for anything yet, or will they be in her next book?

  2. 'found' , heh. seems like KGB quid pro quo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    KGB says: thanks for the memories, Kaspersky... lemme toss you a nation state zero. Use as you'd like...

  3. Usual non-info + lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kaspersky Lab, [...], has found a previously unknown bug in Adobe Flash that was apparently exploited by a hacker group on October 10

    If it was "previously unknown" then whole groups of "hackers" didn't know about it either. So these shmucks weren't the first.

    Unless you mean "hackers" to be omnipotent or something. Hakc teh system! gives IRL godmode and all that. Sure, guise, real believable.

    1. Re: Usual non-info + lies by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Unknown means unknown to the public and the vendor.

    2. Re:Usual non-info + lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a fucking moron.

    3. Re: Usual non-info + lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's how those "vendors" manage to "discover" so much: Find "deep web" webforums, troll for things they didn't know, put in press release. Such innovation! Such knowledge! Such newness! Except of course it's nothing of the sort. Copy/pasting someone else's methods into your own PR is much closer to plaggiarism.

    4. Re: Usual non-info + lies by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      The vendor of course here refers to Adobe and not Kaspersky.

  4. So it's either a good week for the NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    or a bad one , either all their backdoors are being closed or they have a completely different set and all their rivals are being closed out.

    1. Re:So it's either a good week for the NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You presume there is just one TLA that does this. That is an incorrect assumption.

    2. Re:So it's either a good week for the NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The NSA doesn't need to rely on Flash vulns you retarded git nor would they deploy FinSpy.

  5. Russian Ploy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This flash "patch" is just to infect all the computers again, even after you remove the Trojan Kaspersky software.

    1. Re:Russian Ploy by infolation · · Score: 2

      Isn't 'flash' itself an infection? And I am wondering whether it has any purpose now, in 2017.

    2. Re:Russian Ploy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For new development it serves no purpose. For existing applications, even throwing eleventy gazillion dollars won't instantly re-implement the same functionality with new standards and tech.

  6. Translation: trying to pretend it's new by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    They want you to be vulnerable.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Translation: trying to pretend it's new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're also a moron.

  7. vCenter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Any updates from vmware or adobe how to use vCener client with latest version without crashing it ?

  8. this old thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guess they're burning a few 0days to try and save face after being outed as the FSB arm they'll always be.

    1. Re:this old thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a victim of succesful propaganda, and you don't even know it.

    2. Re:this old thing? by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      It's not that hard to believe to start with and after all of the information that came out about Russia's olympic team and the government essentially controlling their anti-doping program so that it became a pro-doping program it doesn't seem unlikely at all that the government has its fingers in places where it shouldn't and doesn't wish them seen.

      I don't know whether the Russian government is heavily involved with the company and has them doing anything that can't be admitted publicly, and it's entirely possible that they don't. However, if we're taking bets, my money wouldn't be anywhere near 0% probability of the Russian government having no non-public involvement with Kaspersky.

    3. Re: this old thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is also true with regard to the US government and every US company, though.

      0% is a pretty hard number to hit, in any case.

    4. Re:this old thing? by lhowaf · · Score: 1

      So, you're betting there's a high probability of the Russian government having no non-public involvement with Kaspersky?
      I guess I'm in.

  9. And vSphere administrators everywhere.... by tk77 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    all cried out in frustration when the vCenter web client stopped working today due to flash suddenly crashing due to an automatic update.... and then further frustrated by the fact they'd have to manually drop back to the vulnerable 27.0.0.159 to actually administer their servers.

    Screw you Adobe. And screw you VMware for still only having a partially implemented HTML5 interface.

    1. Re: And vSphere administrators everywhere.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been out of the loop on VMware for quite some time. Are they seriously still using flash for the administration console? LMAO. How secure are all of the enterprise virtualized servers?!?!?

    2. Re: And vSphere administrators everywhere.... by tk77 · · Score: 2

      They do have a "partially implemented" HTML5 console but it doesn't currently support all of the features of the main web console which unfortunately, still requires flash.

    3. Re: And vSphere administrators everywhere.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So... what you are saying is that there is not a commercially supported HTML5 client.

      yep. fixed that for you.

  10. Kremlinsky Lab finds vulnerability in NSA-complici by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...as each side tries to prove they are "somewhat less nefarious" than the other.

    For maximum security - trust none of them.

  11. Worked with Adobe to get a patch ready? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure Adobe is thankful for the name association on a security "patch". Now everyone wonders whether the patch closes the door or just improves it.

  12. DIe, Flash, die! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't it dead yet?

    *sigh*

  13. moral of the story? by deviated_prevert · · Score: 1

    DON'T link word documents to flash content or create .docx with flash content or trust the idiots who do! It is the same thing as pissing in a sand box and then wondering why your clothes stink.

    --
    This message was not sent from an iPhone because Peter Sellers really was a deviated prevert without a dime for the call
  14. So the question is ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    When did it find it?

    Who it shared this knowledge with so far?

    Why go public now?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:So the question is ... by WoodstockJeff · · Score: 2

      > Why go public now?

      Because Flash hasn't had a critical vulnerability reported in almost a week, so it was overdue.

    2. Re:So the question is ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read their blog. They go public all the time about the vulnerabilities they find.

    3. Re:So the question is ... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 0

      I think the better question is : have you seen any evidence whatsoever that Kaspersky is anything but what they have always represented* or are you just jumping on the "Russian Hackers! Trump is Illegitimate!" bandwagon?

      Please link evidence any you've seen - I've apparently missed the entirety of it.

      * Russian hackers straddling the white/greyhat line, selling an AV product based on that position.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  15. There goes another NSA backdoor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is anyone surprised why the US Government is so keen on getting rid of Kaspersky?

  16. Shocking! by PPH · · Score: 2

    To see that people are still using Flash.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Shocking! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real TIL is always in the comments.

      Seriously: who's still using Flash, and why?

  17. The KGB connected "AV" software? by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 1

    Lol.... Who would run that shit on their PC?

    1. Re:The KGB connected "AV" software? by Antiocheian · · Score: 1

      Anyone who isn't OK being infested by the likes of Stuxnet.

  18. Uninstall Flash. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you still have a Flash plugin installed then now is the proper time to uninstall it.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Uninstall Flash. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you still have a Flash plugin installed then now is the proper time to uninstall it.

      Yeah, we're to old now to be on kongregate anyway.

  19. Until recently USA connected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did you forget that 6 days after Trump took power, one of Kaspersky's bosses was arrested as a US spy? This stuff about Kaspersky started *after* that, and it originated from the Whitehouse. That ex FSB man also fitted the profile of one of the ex FSB man that confirmed the pee memos.

    Hypothesis: Trump had gotten hold of the names of the people accusing him of hiring whores to piss on each other (in the Hotel in Moscow opposite the FSB headquarters, aka the pee memos), and he'd passed them along to his Russia friends. Then when he needed to fake-attack Putin, he fake attacked Kaspersky instead as a proxy for Putin.

    Alta-hypothesis: Kaspersky were OK until 6 days after Trump took power, when they were suddenly not ok.

  20. Fuck Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for the find, cocksuckers.