Microsoft Patch Tuesday -December 2022

Microsoft patched 48 CVE in its December 2022 Patch Tuesday release, one final time for the year 2022. With seven rated as critical and 40 rated as important and 1 rated as moderate. Microsoft also released a Defense in Depth update (ADV220005) for Driver Certificate Deprecation.

This month’s update includes patches for:

• .NET Framework
• Azure
• Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS)
• Microsoft Bluetooth Driver
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based)
• Microsoft Graphics Component
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Office OneNote
• Microsoft Office Outlook
• Microsoft Office SharePoint
• Microsoft Office Visio
• Microsoft Windows Codecs Library
• Role: Windows Hyper-V
• SysInternals
• Windows Certificates
• Windows Contacts
• Windows DirectX
• Windows Error Reporting
• Windows Fax Compose Form
• Windows HTTP Print Provider
• Windows Kernel
• Windows PowerShell
• Windows Print Spooler Components
• Windows Projected File System
• Windows Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP)
• Windows SmartScreen
• Windows Subsystem for Linux
• Windows Terminal

Windows SmartScreen security feature bypass vulnerability

CVE-2022-44698 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in the Windows operating system. This is a mark of the web (MoTW) vulnerability like those patched in the November 2022 Patch Tuesday release. All these MoTW vulnerabilities prevent specially crafted downloads from being marked as being from the web, which affects the integrity and availability of security features that utilize MoTW tagging. It affects only the SmartScreen feature of Windows operating systems, rather than the Protected View feature in Office. Successful exploitation prevents SmartScreen from performing a reputation check on the downloaded file. This could lead to a known malicious executable not alerting users that the file may be malicious. This vulnerability is exploited in wild.

DirectX Graphics Kernel EoP vulnerability

CVE-2022-44710  is the second zero-day vulnerability patched this month, this important-rated bug was publicly disclosed before Microsoft issued its security updates. Microsoft gives it a CVSS score of 7.8 but is a flaw less likely to be exploited.

Microsoft SharePoint Server RCE vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-44690 and CVE-2022-44693 are RCE vulnerabilities in Microsoft SharePoint Server that both received a CVSSv3 score of 8.8. An authenticated attacker with permission to use Manage Lists in SharePoint could exploit these vulnerabilities to execute code remotely. Both vulnerabilities are rated as “Exploitation Less Likely.”

.NET Framework RCE vulnerability

CVE-2022-41089 is an unauthenticated RCE vulnerability in Microsoft.NET framework with a CVSSv3 score of 8.8 and low attack complexity. However, successful exploitation requires user interaction, making exploitation less likely.

PowerShell RCE vulnerability

CVE-2022-41076 is a RCE vulnerability in Windows PowerShell that received a CVSSv3 score of 8.5 and was rated as Exploitation more likely. Exploitation of this flaw requires that an authenticated attacker first prepare the target. While the advisory does not detail what actions must be taken, it does note that any authenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability and no elevated privileges are required. Successful exploitation would allow an attacker to run arbitrary commands on an affected system.

Windows Print Spooler components EoP vulnerability

CVE-2022-44678 and CVE-2022-44681 are EoP vulnerabilities in Windows Print Spooler components. As with their many predecessors, these vulnerabilities received a CVSSv3 score of 7.8. However, despite the similarities, Microsoft rated these as Exploitation Less Likely and Exploitation Unlikely respectively.

Patch update list