Category Archives: Security

aka infosec

Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Google, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Security

SHA-1 deprecation coming soon

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SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1) is still used by some web sites to encrypt their traffic. Starting in early 2017, most web browsers will start displaying scary-looking warnings when anyone tries to visit sites using SHA-1.

Like this one in Edge:

After Feb 14, 2017, Microsoft Edge will show this warning when it detects SHA-1 encryption
After Feb 14, 2017, Microsoft Edge will show this warning when it detects SHA-1 encryption

SHA-1 deprecation announcements

Microsoft

(From a post on the Microsoft Edge blog.)

Starting on February 14th, 2017, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 will prevent sites that are protected with a SHA-1 certificate from loading and will display an invalid certificate warning. Though we strongly discourage it, users will have the option to ignore the error and continue to the website.

Mozilla

From a post on the Mozilla security blog.

In early 2017, Firefox will show an overridable “Untrusted Connection” error whenever a SHA-1 certificate is encountered that chains up to a root certificate included in Mozilla’s CA Certificate Program. SHA-1 certificates that chain up to a manually-imported root certificate, as specified by the user, will continue to be supported by default; this will continue allowing certain enterprise root use cases, though we strongly encourage everyone to migrate away from SHA-1 as quickly as possible.

Google

From a post on the Google security blog.

We are planning to remove support for SHA-1 certificates in Chrome 56, which will be released to the stable channel around the end of January 2017. The removal will follow the Chrome release process, moving from Dev to Beta to Stable; there won’t be a date-based change in behaviour.

Firefox, Patches and updates, Security

Firefox 50 fixes 27 security bugs

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Firefox users are advised to make sure it’s up to date: version 50 — released yesterday — addresses at least twenty-seven security vulnerabilities. To find out what version you’re running, click the ‘hamburger’ menu icon at the top right, click the question mark icon, then click ‘About Firefox’.

Aside from the security fixes, there’s not much of interest in Firefox 50. The release notes provide additional information.

Microsoft, Security, Tools, Windows

Microsoft to abandon EMET slightly later than planned

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Starting in 2009, Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) provided Windows users with an additional layer of security. It was designed to block specific, known types of vulnerabilities. EMET proved particularly useful for people running older versions of Windows, especially XP.

I’ve been recommending EMET since it was first available, and it’s still a useful addition to any Windows system, but I’ve also been running into an increasing number of EMET-related problems, and finally stopped using it on my main Windows 8.1 computer recently.

Microsoft originally intended to stop supporting the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) in January 2017, but based on customer feedback, EMET’s demise will now take place on July 31, 2018.

In the recent EMET end-of-life announcement, Microsoft admits to EMET’s failings, and points out that much of the protection provided by EMET is now built into Windows 10. Of course, that doesn’t help those of us who are avoiding Windows 10 because of privacy and control issues.

Update 2016Nov22: According to CERT (a division of the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University), Microsoft’s claims for Windows 10 are not entirely accurate. While it’s fair to say that Windows 10 includes the system-wide protections provided by EMET, it does not provide per-application settings. In other words, Windows 10 security can be improved by also running EMET. This makes the retirement of EMET by Microsoft seem rather premature.

Adobe, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for November 2016

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It’s Patch Tuesday, albeit a slightly more interesting one than usual. Patches we have, from both Microsoft and Adobe. More about that later.

Microsoft wants to simplify the way security update information is presented to the public. To that end, they’ve created a new ‘starting page’ of sorts, called the Security Updates Guide. The idea is that anyone should be able to find the information they need by starting here. Most of the links on the new page actually go to existing TechNet pages. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Among the updates from Microsoft this month is a fix for the Windows vulnerability recently reported by Google. You may recall that Microsoft was rather annoyed with Google for making the vulnerability public according to their own rules (sooner than Microsoft wanted). Microsoft did credit Neel Mehta and Billy Leonard of Google’s Threat Analysis Group for their assistance.

There are fourteen bulletins from Microsoft this month. The associated updates address seventy-five vulnerabilities in Windows, Edge, Office, and Internet Explorer.

Adobe’s monthly contribution to the festivities is a new version of Flash, 23.0.0.207. A release announcement provides an overview of the changes, while the associated security bulletin provides some background about the nine vulnerabilities addressed.

Adobe, Flash, Google, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Windows zero-day vulnerability won’t be fixed until November 8

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Google’s Threat Analysis Group recently discovered critical flaws in Flash and Windows that could allow an attacker to bypass Windows security mechanisms. Attacks based on these flaws have already been observed in the wild.

The flaw in Flash was fixed immediately by Oracle; hence the out-of-cycle Flash update on October 26. But Microsoft decided to delay the corresponding Windows fix until next Patch Tuesday (November 8), and is now rather annoyed with Google for reporting the vulnerability publicly. Google was following its own rules for vulnerability disclosure, but such rules differ widely between organizations. In any case, Microsoft would have been happier if Google had waited a bit longer before spilling the beans.

Adobe, Chrome, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Flash 23.0.0.205

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Normally Adobe releases Flash updates on Patch Tuesday, but when there’s a critical security vulnerability they will release an ‘out of cycle’ fix. That’s what happened with Flash 23.0.0.205, which was released on October 26 to address a single vulnerability: CVE-2016-7855 (details pending).

Anyone who uses Flash in a web browser should update Flash as soon as possible. If you’re not sure whether you’re running the latest Flash, go to the About Flash page on the Adobe web site.

As always, Internet Explorer and Edge will get updates to their embedded Flash via Windows Update (bulletin MS16-128), and Chrome will update itself automatically. Still, it’s a good idea to make sure by visiting the About Flash page.

Firefox, Internet, Security, Things that are bad

Stay away from Certificate Authority WoSign/StartCom

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A litany of abuse and incompetence has prompted Mozilla to completely distrust security certificates from Certificate Authority (CA) WoSign in Firefox.

Starting with Firefox 51, the browser will no longer trust WoSign or StartCom certificates. According to Mozilla: “If you receive a certificate from one of these two CAs after October 21, 2016, your certificate will not validate in Mozilla products such as Firefox 51 and later, until these CAs provide new root certificates with different Subject Distinguished Names, and you manually import the root certificate that your certificate chains up to. Consumers of your website will also have to manually import the new root certificate until it is included by default in Mozilla’s root store.”

WoSign/StartCom can dig themselves out of this hole by applying for inclusion of new (replacement) root certificates, and there’s little doubt that they will pursue this course. But should anyone really trust their security and privacy to this company? I sure won’t, especially when there are excellent free alternatives like Let’s Encrypt.

Mozilla has been tracking WoSign’s failures since the beginning of 2015, recording their observations on their corporate wiki site.

The most recent example of WoSign’s failings stems from their acquisition of CA StartCom in November of 2015. WoSign failed to disclose the acquisition, then lied about it.

On a related note, Mozilla will also no longer accept audits performed by the consulting firm Ernst and Young (Hong Kong). That’s the company that failed to catch several of WoSign’s worst abuses. This is personally amusing to me, since I’ve had dealings with Ernst and Young that were somewhat less than positive.

Update 2016Nov01: Google is following Mozilla’s lead and removing trust for WoSign and StartCom certificates in Chrome, starting with Chrome 56.

Patches and updates, Security, WordPress and other CMS

Critical security update for Joomla

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Joomla 3.6.4, released on October 25, addresses two critical security vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to gain control of a Joomla-based web site.

Like WordPress, Joomla forms the basis of numerous web sites, because it’s easy to set up and manage. Its popularity and ease of use have of course also made Joomla a target for malicious hackers, who know that many Joomla sites are not kept up to date by their inexperienced owners.

If you manage a Joomla 3+ web site, please install this update as soon as possible. It’s very likely that attackers are already searching the web for vulnerable sites. Unless of course you want your site to be part of a botnet (which may sound cool, but really isn’t).