Emerging Threats Every Security Professional Must Address: Beyond Patch Management and Traditional Defenses
As security professionals, we are navigating an environment that is constantly evolving—both for better and worse.
Are your Windows endpoints fully patched with all security measures, such as VBS, HVCI, UEFI lock, and Windows Defender, enabled? It might not matter.
Do you believe PatchGuard will protect your Windows endpoint's critical internal components from malware? I've got bad news for you.
Let's examine two recent reports that caught my attention and should be on the radar of every Security Operations Center (SOC) member:
"Downdate" Exploit: Alon Leviev demonstrated at the BlackHat security conference how to exploit older vulnerabilities on fully patched Windows 10 and 11 systems. This exploit allows attackers to trick systems into rolling back to older, vulnerable versions of critical components. As a result, attackers can bypass Windows Defender, Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI), Credential Guard, and UEFI locks. Even more concerning, he used Windows Update itself for this attack, making it much harder for Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) software to detect.
PatchGuard Bypass: The second report, by Can B?lük, reveals a method to completely disable PatchGuard, a defense mechanism that has been effective for the past seven years. Not only can he fully disable PatchGuard, but he also mentioned that updating this method over the years required only a single line of code change. This opens the door to various techniques, such as System Service Descriptor Table (SSDT) hooking, which are commonly used by different types of malware.
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What Does This Mean for SOCs? These findings serve as a crucial reminder: we can’t afford to be complacent. As attackers become more adept at finding and exploiting even the most obscure vulnerabilities, our approach to security must evolve in parallel.
Continuous Monitoring: It’s clear that regular patching alone isn’t sufficient. Continuous monitoring for unusual rollback behaviors and deeper analysis of system changes must be prioritized.
Layered Defenses & Zero Trust: Relying solely on mechanisms like PatchGuard, standard patch management, or even hypervisor isolation won’t be enough anymore. By assuming every asset, whether internal or external, is a potential threat, we can better protect our infrastructure against more sophisticated attacks.
Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing: We, as a community, benefit when we share our insights and strategies. To keep up with the challenging landscape of threats, we need to build our networks and stay as informed as possible about security-related news.
Looking ahead, these issues are likely just the tip of the iceberg. As security professionals, we must be proactive—staying informed and ready to adjust our defenses as the threat landscape evolves. By staying ahead of these developments and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, we can better protect our organizations from the next wave of sophisticated attacks.
Let's keep the conversation going—how are you adapting your strategies in response to these challenges?