75 points kuberwastaken 1 hour ago 23 comments

falcor84 54 minutes ago | parent

Wow! At first sight I was sure it was a joke, but no. What a time...

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-20...

dboreham 50 minutes ago | parent

Presumably this is like many other graphics tool vulnerabilities this works by the attacker persuading a user to open a file that exercises the bug. Not terribly unusual.

yread 43 minutes ago | parent

I don't think so:

> User Interaction: None

> Out-of-bounds read in Windows Paint allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

criddell 29 minutes ago | parent

> An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted packet to an affected service over the network.

What server is MS Paint running or what services does it provide?

Edit: Apparently you can use it to print an image from the command-line. Is that how this is being exploited?

lakeviewterrace 16 minutes ago | parent

IIS (Internet Impasto Server)

80fj0348i 9 minutes ago | parent

MS Paint has Copilot now

stygiansonic 26 minutes ago | parent

When they find a CVE RCE in minesweeper then you know it’s all over

lakeviewterrace 11 minutes ago | parent

Of course the valuable link is down-weighted/buried in the HN discussion...

  >Publicly disclosed
  >No

  >Exploited
  >No

  >Exploitability assessment
  >Exploitation Less Likely

tosti 51 minutes ago | parent

Code execution, sure, paint has been used to write executable code too, so why not.

But remote? How

VorpalWay 41 minutes ago | parent

I'm thankfully out of the loop on Windows these days, but as I remember it Paint did not have any network features? Is that still true? If if is, maybe it is a misfiling of the CVE and it isn't remote?

Or are they chaining a browser auto opening a download in paint, (but browsers shouldn't do that)...

kuboble 32 minutes ago | parent

These days paint has copilot...

robotnikman 27 minutes ago | parent

This is the only network feature paint has iirc, so that's probably it.

radicalbyte 8 minutes ago | parent

Why for the love of everything that is good does MS Paint have network trash in it. It's a super simple bitmap editor. Like Notepad, it's simple and just works.

Make a new product and bundle that as an option if you want to drastically change the functionality.

waz0wski 5 minutes ago | parent

Hate to break it to you..

> Notepad in Windows includes AI features powered by Copilot that help refine and shorten text with the assistance of GPT. By default, these AI features are enabled on managed devices

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/...

gregschlom 41 minutes ago | parent

"An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted packet to an affected service over the network. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to execute code on the target system. No authentication or user interaction is required.."

Still, the question remains... How?

IanCal 34 minutes ago | parent

It mentions that it may rely on other services or security measures running- I wonder if there’s something like this hitting a firewall or av and then that calling out to paint to check file type or size out something like that?

Den_VR 31 minutes ago | parent

The direct implication is that current generations of ms paint are a “service over the network.” Probably a theoretically possible RPC end point of svchost.exe

TZubiri 22 minutes ago | parent

Maybe because a .bmp file could be sent remotely.

Or maybe after the .bmp file is executed, it can install something that opens an outbound TCP connection to its C2, and thus can receive commands. Would not need admin privileges because it doesn't open a port, just 'outbound' connections, like a long-poll.

Sohcahtoa82 10 minutes ago | parent

Because the definition of "remote" has been expanded in the name of resume-driven development to include sending a malicious file that a victim has to open.

layer8 31 minutes ago | parent

Fixed in version 11.2609.401.0.

TZubiri 19 minutes ago | parent

>Exploit Code Maturity

>Unproven

>Remediation Level

>Official Fix

>Report Confidence

>Confirmed

I really like these secondary scoring factors, not just scoring the vuln itself, but how it's being attacked.

arm32 16 minutes ago | parent

Patch your MS Paint, everybody!

rarisma 6 minutes ago | parent

rce in paint i guess bro