Researchers unearth zero-day exploit in Windows OS

Kaspersky automated detection technologies has found a Windows zero-day vulnerability. The exploit based on this vulnerability allowed attackers to gain higher privileges on the attacked machine and avoid protection mechanisms in the Google Chrome browser. The newly discovered exploit was used in the malicious WizardOpium operation.

Zero-day vulnerabilities are previously unknown bugs in the software, which, if found by criminals first, enable them to operate unnoticed for a long time, inflicting serious and unexpected damage. Regular security solutions do not identify the system infection nor can they protect users from a yet-to-be-recognized threat.