SMBGhost (or SMBleedingGhost or CoronaBlue) is a type of
security vulnerability
Vulnerabilities are flaws or weaknesses in a system's design, implementation, or management that can be exploited by a malicious actor to compromise its security.
Despite a system administrator's best efforts to achieve complete correctness, vir ...
, with
worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes.
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...
like features, that affects
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
computers and was first reported publicly on 10 March 2020.
Security vulnerability
A
proof of concept
A proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is an inchoate realization of a certain idea or method in order to demonstrate its feasibility or viability. A proof of concept is usually small and may or may not be complete ...
(PoC)
exploit code was published 1 June 2020 on
GitHub
GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...
by a security researcher.
The code could possibly spread to millions of unpatched computers, resulting in as much as tens of billions of dollars in losses.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
recommends all users of Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909 and Windows Server versions 1903 and 1909 to install patches, and states, "We recommend customers install updates as soon as possible as publicly disclosed vulnerabilities have the potential to be leveraged by bad actors ... An update for this vulnerability was released in March
020
020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...
and customers who have installed the updates, or have automatic updates enabled, are already protected."
Workarounds, according to Microsoft, such as disabling SMB compression and blocking port 445, may help but may not be sufficient.
According to the advisory division of
Homeland Security
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to ...
, "Malicious cyber actors are targeting unpatched systems with the new
hreat ...
ndstrongly recommends using a firewall to block server message block ports from the internet and to apply patches to critical- and high-severity vulnerabilities as soon as possible."
References
External links
*
* (12 March 2020)
* (12 March 2020)
* (13 March 2020)
* (13 March 2020)
* (4 April 2020)
* (10 June 2020)
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Computer security
2020 in computing