Zoom patches serious video conferencing bug
Zoom, a company that sells video conferencing software for the business market, patched a bug this week that could have allowed crooks to hijack customer video conferences.
Attackers with network access could have taken control of participating computers, according to researchers.
David Wells, a researcher at Tenable Security, reported the bug and provided an analysis including a proof of concept demonstration video explaining how attackers could compromise the Zoom system.
The vulnerability, which affected the Windows, Mac and Linux versions of Zoom’s software, lay in the way the company queued and processed messages in its software, Wells said.
This vulnerability affects the following Zoom versions:
- macOS 10.13, Zoom 4.1.33259.0925
- Windows 10, Zoom 4.1.33259.0925
- Ubuntu 14.04, Zoom 2.4.129780.0915
The internal mechanism that Zoom uses to send its network messages handles two kinds of network packet: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
UDP doesn’t have the kind of handshaking and packet loss prevention overhead that you find in TCP packets, making it leaner and better suited for the latency-sensitive network communications that you find in audio and video conferencing.
TCP is therefore typically used to control sessions, while the simpler UDP protocol is used to send session content.
The messaging mechanism dispatches both kinds of packet to the same message handler program. Wells worked out a way to create a malformed UDP packet that the message handler interprets as a TCP message. The exploit works because the message handler isn’t validating the incoming messages to spot the malformed packet, according to Tenable’s synopsis.
The message handler accepts the UDP packets even when encrypted sessions are enabled, meaning that attackers do not need to authenticate themselves on the system first. That makes it possible for attackers outside of rogue meeting attendees to hijack a meeting. An attacker can be on the local network, or even on a WAN connection, suggests Wells, by brute-forcing the port that the victim is using for their UDP session with the Zoom server.
An attacker could take control of a computer by targeting a remote attendee sharing their screen during a session, said Tenable’s analysis. They could then bypass screen control permissions and send keystrokes and mouse movements directly to that participant’s machine. In practice, though, they’d have to avoid packet loss, which is a common occurrence in UDP sessions, and which could cause their keystrokes to go amiss. They would also have to avoid the victim noticing what they were doing and stopping them.
Tenable first gave Zoom the full details of this flaw on 11 October, and the video conferencing company released fixed versions for its Windows and Mac clients on 20 November, following up with a fix for the Linux client on 30 November.
Source: nakedsecurity
Industry: Unified communication news
Latest Jobs
-
- Contact 12 month- Security Operations- Crowdstrike Falcon Insight EDR / Analyst.
- United Kingdom
- Dependent on experience
-
Security Operations engineer / Analyst with Crowdstrike Falcon Insight EDR experience for a 12 month contract. Experienced Contractor with Crowdstrike Falcon Insight: Endpoint detection and Response (EDR) experience needed - 12 month rolling project. Implementation, configuration and Analyst experience needed with Crowdstrike Falcon Insight: (EDR) Migration project- relocating capability internationally. technically implementing, configuration of that that migration and then transition to BAU role monitoring. DCL Search exclusive associate Project.
-
- SailPoint Consultant
- London
- Upto £75,000 plus benefits
-
SailPoint Consultant is needed for an expanding Financial Service business, this is an exciting time to join the Business as they are in the Process of deploying both IAM and PAM solutions and this consultant will form a key part of the IAM team Location can be flexible but would require the individual to come into the London office a couple of times a month for team meetings and face to face project reviews Duties include · Engage in the Identity & Access Management project to deliver SailPoint IdentityNow and Privileged Access Management · On-board applications and users into IAM tools and customise or configure integrations as required · Regularly review, secure and recertify privileged roles in applications, databases and operating systems · Implement least privilege, just-in-time access, password rotation and vaulting wherever possible · Migrate application authentication to Single Sign-On through the use of SAML and OAuth · Implement and enforce the use of MFA where possible, focusing on critical applications and risky sign-ins · Provide technical support to Centrify and SailPoint users Key experience required: Previous experience with SailPoint, including integrating and deploying into a business, onboarding users and applications, supporting users and performing manual administration tasks. Experience with SAML and OAuth to migrate applications to Single Sign-on. If you are interested in hearing more please reach out to me for more information
-
- Centrify Consultant
- London
- Upto £75,000 plus benefits
-
A Privileged Access Management Consultant is needed for an expanding Financial Service business, this is an exciting time to join the Business as they are in the Process of deploying a Centrify PAM solution,, this consultant will form a key part of the team Location can be flexible but would require the individual to come into the London office a couple of times a month for team meetings and face to face project reviews Duties include · On-board applications and users into PAM tools and customise or configure integrations as required · Regularly review, secure and recertify privileged roles in applications, databases and operating systems · Implement least privilege, just-in-time access, password rotation and vaulting wherever possible · Migrate application authentication to Single Sign-On through the use of SAML and OAuth · Implement and enforce the use of MFA where possible, focusing on critical applications and risky sign-ins · Provide technical support to Centrify users You would also gain expsoure with the IAM toolset as part of an Identity Access deployment. Key experience required: Previous experience with a PAM tool (Centrify would be an added bonus but not essential) including integrating and deploying into a business, onboarding users and applications, supporting users and performing manual administration tasks. Experience with SAML and OAuth to migrate applications to Single Sign-on. If you are interested in hearing more please reach out to me for more information
-
- SOC team lead- Deputy SOC manager - Managed Security Services, Bradford. Exclusive
- Bradford
- £70,000 +
-
SOC team lead- Deputy SOC Manager - Managed Cyber Security Services, Bradford. Exclusive Identifier project. Technical team lead needed to join a Managed Cyber Security Services business. The role will be a hands on lead role and technical escalation point for the team. You will also be responsible for leading, mentoring, growing and developing the team. You will be the deputy SOC manager and be involved in the strategic growth of the capability. A managed security services background is essential, specifically within a managed security operations capability. Current hands on support experience across Firewall, SIEM, Incident Response is essential.