Vulnerabilities


Exploit Code, Metasploit Module Out for Ruby on Rails Flaws

Just two days after the disclosure of a string of serious vulnerabilities in Ruby on Rails, researchers have released proof-of-concept exploit code for a couple of the flaws and the team at Metasploit have released a module for the penetration testing framework that exploit one of the bugs, as well.

Cool, BlackHole Exploit Kits Created by Same Hacker

If the relatively cheap, easily available, and totally reliable Blackhole exploit kit is the Toyota Camry of exploit kits, then the Cool exploit kit is the Lexus LS: both kits are reportedly developed by the same crew, but the latter is astronomically more expensive and presumably loaded with better features.


Never underestimate what you can do with a healthy list of advanced operator search terms and a beer budget. That’s mostly what comprises the arsenal of two critical infrastructure protection specialists who have spent close to nine months trying to paint a picture of the number of Internet-facing devices linked to critical infrastructure in the United States.

For the second time in less than a week, the developers of the Ruby on Rails framework are urging users to update their installations as soon possible after the discovery of several critical vulnerabilities. Last week it was a SQL injection vulnerability in Ruby on Rails, and today comes the disclosure of a series of vulnerabilities that could enable an attacker to compromise vulnerable Rails applications.

Adobe has not only joined Microsoft on the Patch Tuesday parade, but it too has critical vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild while a security update is in the works. Two patches were released today for Acrobat/Reader and Flash Player, yet the company has said that fixes for three ColdFusion flaws being exploited will be released Jan. 15.

It’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday, and while there were two critical security updates released today, the concern among IT managers is likely over the patch that isn’t there. Microsoft’s monthly security bulletins do not address a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that has been actively exploited in a series of watering hole attacks reported around Christmas that have been ongoing for a month.

Facebook has patched a vulnerability that could have allowed a malicious user to bypass certain security restrictions, according to Sow Ching Shiong, an independent security researcher who discovered the flaw on the popular social network earlier this week.

Nvidia has released a new driver for its graphics cards that includes a security update for a zero-day vulnerability in the Nvidia Display Driver Service that came to light on Christmas day. UK researcher Peter Winter-Smith posted vulnerability details and an exploit to Pastebin describing a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in the service, as well as his exploit, which bypassed DEP and ASLR on Windows machines.