22 March 2020
On March 12, 2020 Microsoft published a CVSS V3.1 severity 10 vulnerability in the SMBv3 protocol. CVE-2020-0796 (1), also called CoronaBlue, impacts the Windows 10 client and server versions 1903 and 1909.
The bad news first. CoronaBlue is like Eternalblue/WannaCry a wormable remote code execution vulnerability. A single Windows 10 system with SMBv3 protocol installed and port 445 open to the internet is enough for infiltration of a network.
The good news is that only few systems with Windows 10 version 1903 or 1909 have port 445 exposed to the internet. Theses Windows versions are just too new.
Nevertheless, immediate patching is required because a proof of concept exploit code was published on March 14, 2020.
In addition, Microsoft recommends deactivating SMBv3 compression unless the patches are installed and activated (2).
But the most important advice Microsoft gives is:
Blocking the affected ports at the enterprise perimeter is the best defense to help avoid Internet-based attacks.
This advice holds for all SMB versions. There is no need to access Windows systems through the SMB protocol from the internet. Therefore, this protocol should be blocked by the internet facing firewall of DMZs. No exceptions! Apparently, some thousand CISOs do not care:
Have a great week. And check your firewall rules!
References
- NIST NVD. NVD – CVE-2020-0796 [Internet]. NIST Information Technology Laboratory. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 22]. Available from: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-0796
- MSRC. CVE-2020-0796 | Windows SMBv3 Client/Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability [Internet]. Microsoft Security. [cited 2020 Mar 22]. Available from: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0796