A critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability, identified as CVE-2024-21409, has been discovered affecting several Microsoft products, including .NET, .NET Framework, and Visual Studio. With a severity rating of 7.3 (High), this vulnerability stems from a Use After Free condition, allowing malicious actors to exploit unallocated memory pointers. Microsoft swiftly responded by issuing patches as part of April’s Patch Tuesday, emphasizing the urgency of applying these updates to mitigate the risk of exploitation.
According to technical analysis, the vulnerability can be exploited locally, remotely, or through user interaction, with no specific conditions required for exploitation. However, attackers must possess user privileges to affect system settings and files, limiting the impact to non-sensitive resources for users with low privileges. Successful exploitation hinges on user interaction, typically through phishing emails containing malicious documents or links. Despite the absence of publicly available exploits, the potential for arbitrary code execution underscores the gravity of this vulnerability.
In a typical exploitation scenario, threat actors gain access to the system and deploy a specially crafted application to exploit the vulnerability, granting them control over the targeted system. This malicious application may be delivered remotely via links or malicious documents, exploiting user trust to execute unauthorized code. The consequences of exploitation can range from temporary denial of resource access to permanent compromise. To safeguard against this threat, Microsoft urges all users to promptly update to the latest versions and apply necessary patches, bolstering defenses against potential attacks.
