Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2024-38217: Microsoft Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW) Protection Mechanism Failure Vulnerability

CVE-2024-38217 · Severity: critical · CVSS 5.4 · Exploited in the wild · Published 2024-09-10

Technologies: Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows 11, Microsoft Windows 10. Vendors: Microsoft.

Executive brief

Microsoft Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW) contains a protection mechanism failure vulnerability that allows an attacker to bypass MOTW-based security features. Successful exploitation can result in a loss of integrity and availability for features like Protected View in Microsoft Office that rely on MOTW tagging. The vulnerability requires user interaction to be exploited.

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2
  • Microsoft Windows 11 21H2, 22H2, 23H2, 24H2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, 23H2

Timeline

  • 2024-09-10: disclosed
  • 2024-09-10: patched
  • 2024-09-10: kev added: Added to CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
  • 2024-09-10: exploited: Reported as exploited in the wild at time of publication.

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