Microsoft Windows users may land in big trouble again, Indian government issues warning

CERT-In under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now issued an alert for Microsoft Windows users in India.

CERT-In has issued a long list of Microsoft Windows version that may be under risk. (Unsplash)

Microsoft Windows users around the globe faced a major outage due to a faulty CrowdStrike update. Since then, Microsoft Windows users are being careful with the latest updates. It is worth noting that scenarios like the CrowdStrike outage are rare and one should install the latest update provided by the vendors to avoid exploitation of the vulnerabilities. That's why, to keep the users safe, the Indian government has issued a warning for Microsoft Windows users. Microsoft Windows users may land in big trouble ‘again' if they ignore this alert.

Microsoft Windows users at risk

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now issued an alert for Microsoft Windows users in India. As per CERT-In, multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Microsoft Windows which could allow an attacker to gain elevation of privilege on the targeted system.

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These vulnerabilities exist in Windows-based systems supporting Virtualization Based Security (VBS) and Windows Backup. An attacker with appropriate privileges could exploit these vulnerabilities to reintroduce previously mitigated issues or bypass VBS protections. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges on the targeted system.

What can users do to stay safe

CERT-In has advised users to apply the recommendations given by the vendor until the security update is available. List of affected Microsoft Windows versions are mentioned below.

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2016

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2022

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)

•⁠ ⁠Windows Server 2019

•⁠ ⁠Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems : Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-it Systemstems

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