It’s the third emergency alert sent to Federal agencies and Departments by CISA this year.
Federal agencies and systems at high risk
CISA required federal civilian agencies to install a security patch. The immediate patch for Windows Servers needs attention now. The CISA alert cites “unacceptable risk” posed by the vulnerability to federal networks.
The agency issued an emergency directive, a rarely-used legal mechanism through which US government officials can force federal agencies into taking various actions for security.
Left unchecked it could allow an attacker to take control of any or all computers on a vulnerable network. The domain controllers and the servers that manage a network’s security are at high-risk. The bug was named, Zerologon, because a hacker doesn’t need to use any network passwords to gain access.
By exploiting a vulnerable device connected to a network, a hacker can take control of the domain controllers. And deploy malware, ransomware, or steal sensitive government files.
Microsoft has developed a two patch solution
Microsoft pushed out an initial fix in August to prevent exploitation. But given the complexity of the issue, the tech giant said it would have to send out a second patch early next year to eradicate the issue.
