Microsoft has released an out of band update for Windows 8.1, RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 to fix two privilege escalation flaws in the Windows Remote Access service.
The two flaws – tracked as CVE-2020-1530 and CVE-2020-1537 – affect all supported versions of Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 and are due to improper handling of memory.
In order to exploit the flaws, an attacker would need to have code execution capabilities on a targeted system. If that is the case, a specially crafted application could be run to elevate privileges.
The security update – KB4578013 – changes how Windows Remote Access handles objects in the memory and file operations. The update is available through the Microsoft update catalog website. After installing the update, a reboot is not necessary.
No other versions of Windows are affected, as the vulnerabilities have already been addressed in the August 11, 2020 security updates.
If the August Patch Tuesday updates have not yet been applied, it is important to patch as soon as possible. Microsoft released two patches on August 11 to correct two zero-day vulnerabilities that are currently being exploited in real word attacks – A remote code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer 11, CVE-2020-1380, and a Windows spoofing vulnerability, CVE-2020-1464, which allows threat actors to spoof other companies when digitally signing executables.