Microsoft Patch Tuesday for February 2024 fixed 2 actively exploited 0-days

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for February 2024 addressed 72 flaws, two of which are actively exploited in the wild.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for February 2024 resolved a total of 72 vulnerabilities, including two actively exploited zero-days.

The vulnerabilities affect Microsoft Windows and Windows Components; Office and Office Components; Azure; .NET Framework and ASP.NET; SQL Server; Windows Hyper-V; and Microsoft Dynamics.

Five vulnerabilities are rated Critical, 65 are rated Important, and two are rated Moderate in severity.

The two flaws actively exploited are:

CVE-2024-21412 (CVSS score 8.1) – Internet Shortcut Files Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker can trigger the flaw by sending the victim a specially crafted file that is designed to bypass displayed security checks. The attacker has to trick the victims into clicking the file link. The flaw was reported by:

dwbzn with Aura Information Security
Dima Lenz and Vlad Stolyarov of Google’s Threat Analysis Group
Peter Girnus (gothburz) of Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative with Trend Micro

CVE-2024-21351 (CVSS score 7.6) – Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability. An authorized attacker can trigger the flaw to bypass the SmartScreen user experience. The attacker can exploit the vulnerability by sending a malicious file to the user and convincing him to open it.

Below is the list of the critical flaws fixed by Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for February 2024.