Security Advisory: Meltdown & Spectre Vulnerabilities

Security Advisory: Meltdown & Spectre Vulnerabilities

Over the past few days, you may have heard of the new vulnerabilities that has been uncovered, Meltdown and Spectre.  These vulnerabilities affect all modern processors, meaning your business machines and even personal gadgets that use processors are affected which puts you in risk of potential attacks.  Below is a brief explanation of what exactly Meltdown and Spectre are:

Meltdown

Meltdown is a hardware vulnerability in processors (Intel x86 microprocessors and some ARM based microprocessors) which allows attackers to use programs to access your computer’s memory.  With this access, they are able to gain sensitive data from your other applications within your system.

Spectre

Spectre is a hardware vulnerability in modern processors, which attackers can use to trick error-free programs, which follow best practices, into leaking their secrets.  Safety checks of said best practices actually increase the attack surface and may make applications more susceptible to Spectre.

However, since the vulnerability has been announced it means that so have the solutions.  Below are the steps in which you need to take fix these vulnerabilities:

1. Update your Processor Firmware

Processor manufacturers have already released firmware updates to fix these vulnerabilities, however they said that they would only be releasing updates for processors within the last 5 years.  Below are the current firmware updates you will need per vendor (note that we will be placing more updates as they come):

HPE

For ProLiant Gen10 products (except for the ProLiant DL385 Gen10), update to System ROM Version 1.28.

For the ProLiant DL385 Gen10 server, update to System ROM Version 1.04.

For ProLiant Gen9 series servers, update to System ROM Version 2.54 (except for the ProLiant DL20 Gen9 or ML30 Gen9)

For the ProLiant DL20 Gen9 or ProLiant ML30 Gen9 server, update to System ROM Version 2.52.

For ProLiant Gen8 series servers, update to a System ROM version dated 12/12/2017.

For the ProLiant m710x server cartridge, update to System ROM Version 1.60

For the ProLiant m710p server cartridges update to the System ROM version dated 12/12/2017.

Click here and place your HPE product to find the firmware patch you need.

Cisco

Below is a table of known Cisco products affected by the vulnerabilities, to download the update, you will need to click on the Cisco Bug ID and log in to your Cisco account to access it.  We will be updating this table when updates are available.

Product Cisco Bug ID Fixed Release Availability
Routing and Switching – Enterprise and Service Provider
Cisco ASR 9000 XR 64-bit Series Routers CSCvh32429
Cisco 800 Industrial Integrated Services Routers CSCvh31418
Cisco NCS 1000 Series Routers CSCvh32429
Cisco NCS 5000 Series Routers CSCvh32429
Cisco NCS 5500 Series Routers CSCvh32429
Cisco XRv 9000 Series Routers CSCvh32429
Unified Computing
Cisco UCS B-Series M2 Blade Servers CSCvh31576 Fix pending
Cisco UCS B-Series M3 Blade Servers CSCvg97965 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS B-Series M4 Blade Servers (except B260 and B460) CSCvg97979 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS B-Series M5 Blade Servers CSCvh31577 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS B260 M4 Blade Server CSCvg98015 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS B460 M4 Blade Server CSCvg98015 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS C-Series M2 Rack Servers CSCvh31576 Fix pending
Cisco UCS C-Series M3 Rack Servers CSCvg97965 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS C-Series M4 Rack Servers (except C460) CSCvg97979 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS C-Series M5 Rack Servers CSCvh31577 (18-Feb-2018)
Cisco UCS C460 M4 Rack Server CSCvg98015 (18-Feb-2018)

Dell

BIOS updates for PowerEdge Server Products

Generation Models BIOS version
14G R740, R740XD, R640 1.2.71
R540, R440, T440 1.2.71
T640 1.2.71
C6420 1.2.71
FC640, M640, M640P 1.2.71
C4140 1.0.2
R940 1.2.81
T30 1.0.12
Generation Models BIOS version
13G R830 1.7.0
T130, R230, T330, R330 2.4.1
R930 2.5.0
R730, R730XD, R630 2.7.0
C4130 2.7.0
M630, M630P, FC630 2.7.0
FC430 2.7.0
M830, M830P, FC830 2.7.0
T630 2.7.0
R530, R430, T430 2.7.0
C6320 2.7.0

BIOS update for Dell Datacenter Scalable Solutions (DSS)

Models BIOS Version
DSS9600, DSS9620, DSS9630 1.2.71
DSS1500, DSS1510, DSS2500 2.7.0
DSS7500 2.7.0

2. Checking if your registry is compatible with your OS updates (Windows)

There are some third party anti-virus software that are currently incompatible with the latest patch updates from Windows.  If you are unable to update your OS due to this reason, it is recommended that you modify your registry to fix this.  However we highly recommend that you also backup your registry before you manually edit it as using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system.  Below is the registry key to be set:

Key=”HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”

Subkey=”SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\QualityCompat” Value=”cadca5fe-87d3-4b96-b7fb-a231484277cc”

Type=”REG_DWORD”

Data=”0x00000000”

For Trend Micro users, there has been a patch release for their products in which enables the ALLOW REGKEY (the above code) automatically.  This however is not the fix to the vulnerabilities and you have to update your OS as this patch will not update your OS but allow you to update.

Additionally, note that per Microsoft, even clients that do not have active anti-malware or security software installed may still be required to apply the specific registry key before the security patches can be obtained from Windows Update.

Product Updated version Notes Platform
OfficeScan XG (all versions including SP1) – CP 1825-4430 Readme Windows
11.0 SP1 – CP 6496 Readme Windows
Deep Security Deep Security Agent 10.0.0-2649 for Windows (U6) Readme Windows
Deep Security Agent 9.6.2-8288 for Windows Readme Windows
Worry-Free Business Security 9.5 CP 1447 Readme Windows

3. Updating your OS (Operating System)

Below are the updates that are currently out for Windows OS for both Servers and Desktop (this will be updated as more updates are released):

Product

Article

Download

Windows Server, version 1709 (Server Core Installation) 4056892 Security Update
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation) 4056890 Security Update
Windows Server 2016 4056890 Security Update
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) 4056898 Security Only
Windows Server 2012 R2 4056898 Security Only
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) 4056894 Monthly Rollup
4056897 Security Only
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4056894 Monthly Rollup
4056897 Security Only
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 1 4056894 Monthly Rollup
4056897 Security Only
Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems 4056898 Security Only
Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems 4056898 Security Only
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4056894 Monthly Rollup
4056897 Security Only
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1 4056894 Monthly Rollup
4056897 Security Only
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 64-based Systems 4056892 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems 4056892 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems 4056891 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1703 for 32-bit Systems 4056891 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems 4056890 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems 4056890 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1511 for x64-based Systems 4056888 Security Update
Windows 10 Version 1511 for 32-bit Systems 4056888 Security Update
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems 4056893 Security Update
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems 4056893 Security Update
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 for x64-based Systems (CU) 4058562 Security Update
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 for x64-based Systems 4057122 Security Update
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (CU) 4058561 Security Update
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4057118 Security Update

4. Updating your browsers

The last step would be to make sure that your internet browser is patched to the latest version.  Below are a few of the most used browsers and the versions they need to be updated to:

Mozilla – Firefox 57.0.4

Internet Explorer/Microsoft Edge – Included in the latest security update of Windows KB4056890 (OS Build 14393.2007)


Again more updates will be posted as soon as the fixes are released by the respective vendors.  If you need more details or help in implementing the said solutions from vendors, please do contact us at 893-9515 and we will do our utmost to help!

 

An Advisory from CT Link Systems, Inc. for WannaCry Ransomware Attacks

An Advisory from CT Link Systems, Inc. for WannaCry Ransomware Attacks

You may have heard over the weekend of the recent attacks of ransomware called WannaCry, which has targeted almost 200,000 computers across 150 countries.  While a killswitch has been found to help lessen the spread of WannaCry, many still believe that a new strain of WannaCry will soon come out which will bypass this quick fix.

Microsoft has released its statement on this issue while also providing its customers the solution to prevent the malicious software from affecting you, installing the security update MS17-010  and more recently they released security patches for older operating systems such as XP which can be found on this link.  However, for those of our current Trend Micro users who cannot update their patches as soon as possible we have work arounds in which you can do in the meantime.  Below are the products of Trend Micro that can be used to prevent the attacks (please make sure to follow the correct patch or pattern for the product):

For our clients who are not using Trend Micro, we strongly urge you to patch your Windows with MS17-010 (for versions such as XP please refer to this link).  For any questions or inquiries you have with regards to ransomware or how you can protect you system, please contact us at 893 9515 and we will be happy to help!

About CT Link

CT Link Systems, Inc. is a premier IT Solutions provider based in the Philippines. We are dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients. Our goal is to be your “Link to Cloud Technology” for businesses looking to improve their digital capabilities. Our solutions include multilevel security, hybrid cloud, and workspace solutions. Established in 1998, CT Link has built a reputation as a reliable partner for companies seeking a competitive advantage.

We work with leading international vendors to offer the latest and most cost-effective solutions. Our engineers are highly skilled and trained, providing expert planning, implementation, and support services. At CT Link Systems, Inc., we understand the importance of technology and the role it plays in driving business success. That’s why we heavily invest in product training and certification for our engineers, ensuring they have the knowledge and expertise to deliver the best possible outcomes. Whether you need help with security, cloud migration, or other IT challenges, we are confident that we can be your trusted technology partner.