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A Flaw in Windows Update Opens the Door to Zombie Exploits
A researcher found a vulnerability that would let hackers strategically downgrade a target’s Windows version to reexpose patched vulnerabilities. Microsoft is working on fixes for the issue.
From there, he developed a proof-of-concept attack that utilized this access to disable the Windows protection known as Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) and ultimately target highly privileged code running in the computer's core “kernel.” With this control, Leviev then found strategies to downgrade multiple key components of Windows, including drivers, which coordinate with hardware peripherals; dynamic link libraries, which contain system programs and data; and, crucially, the NT kernel, which contains the most core instructions for a computer to run. Leviev emphasizes that downgrade attacks are an important threat for the developer community to consider as hackers endlessly seek paths into target systems that are stealthy and difficult to detect.
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