CVE-2022-41049: Windows Mark of the Web Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
Medium (CVSS 5.4)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L/E:F/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Security Feature Bypass
Exploit Status
Actively Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Detected
Patch Tuesday
2022-Nov
Released
2022-11-08
Last Updated
2022-11-11
EPSS Score
13.06% (percentile: 94.1%)
CISA KEV
Listed — due 2022-12-09

FAQ

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability? In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a malicious website that is designed to exploit the security feature bypass. In an email or instant message attack scenario, the attacker could send the targeted user a specially crafted .url file that is designed to exploit the bypass. Compromised websites or websites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content to exploit the security feature bypass. In all cases an attacker would have no way to force a user to view attacker-controlled content. Instead, an attacker would have to convince a user to take action. For example, an attacker could entice a user to either click a link that directs the user to the attacker's site or send a malicious attachment. Please see Additional information about Mark of the Web for further clarification According to the CVSS metric, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to some loss of integrity (I:L) and some loss of availability (A:L). What does that mean for this vulnerability? An attacker can craft a malicious file that would evade Mark of the Web (MOTW) defenses, resulting in a limited loss of integrity and availability of security features such as Protected View in Microsoft Office, which rely on MOTW tagging.

Affected Products (28)

Windows

  • Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows 10 Version 21H1 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 21H1 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 21H1 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows 10 Version 20H2 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 20H2 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)
  • Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems

Security Updates (7)

Acknowledgments

Will Dormann <a href="https://www.cert.org">CERT/CC</a>

Revision History

  • 2022-11-08: Information published.
  • 2022-11-11: Updated CVE to correct exploit status. This is an informational update only.