Microsoft Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW) Protection Mechanism Failure Vulnerability (CVE-2024-38217)
Severity: medium · Patch status: patched · Since 2024-09-10 · CVE-2024-38217
Microsoft Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW) contains a protection mechanism failure vulnerability that allows an attacker to bypass MOTW-based defenses. This can result in a limited loss of integrity and availability of security features such as Protected View in Microsoft Office, which rely on MOTW tagging. CISA added CVE-2024-38217 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Sep 10, 2024, which means attackers are exploiting it in the wild.
What to do
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- US federal agencies must remediate by Oct 1, 2024 (BOD 22-01); treat that as the outer limit.
Sources
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