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🚨 Urgent Alert! Critical SharePoint Server Vulnerability (CVE-2023-29357) Under Active Exploitation by Hackers; CISA Orders Immediate Patching
CISA issues an urgent alert after adding the critical Microsoft SharePoint Server vulnerability, CVE-2023-29357, to its KEV catalog, confirming active exploitation by hackers. System administrators are advised to update patches immediately.
📌 Key Takeaways:
- CISA has added the critical Microsoft SharePoint Server vulnerability, CVE-2023-29357, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
- This vulnerability is rated Critical (CVSS 9.8), allowing attackers to escalate privileges to Admin without logging in.
- Hackers often combine this vulnerability with another (CVE-2023-24955) to breach systems and execute remote code (RCE), fully compromising the server.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent alert, adding Microsoft SharePoint Server vulnerability CVE-2023-29357 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. This clearly signals that the vulnerability is no longer theoretical but is actively being exploited by hackers in real-world attacks.
💻 What is CVE-2023-29357?
This is a Privilege Escalation vulnerability rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10. Its severity allows an unauthenticated attacker to gain Administrator privileges on an affected SharePoint Server. Simply put, hackers can become system administrators immediately without needing a password.
🔗 Combo Attack Technique
According to security researchers, attackers often do not use this vulnerability in isolation but combine it with another vulnerability, CVE-2023-24955, a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability, to create a complete attack chain. They first use CVE-2023-29357 to escalate privileges to Admin, then leverage those privileges to exploit CVE-2023-24955 to execute malicious code or programs remotely on the server, leading to full system control.
🛡️ Immediate Actions for System Administrators
Microsoft released security patches to address this vulnerability in June 2023. However, CISA's inclusion in the KEV catalog indicates that many servers remain unpatched and are currently targets. Therefore, if your organization uses Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019, it is strongly recommended to check for and install the latest security patches as urgently as possible to prevent potential damage from attacks.
💬 Does your organization use SharePoint Server? Have you checked and updated the latest security patches yet?