Microsoft Security Breach: Signing Key Exposure Compromises Dozens of Customers
Microsoft has disclosed a significant security breach that occurred in April 2021. A consumer signing key was exposed in a crash dump, leading to widespread compromises. The incident has raised concerns about the potential extent of the breach and Microsoft's response.
The breach began when a crash dump file, containing sensitive information including a consumer signing key, was moved from an isolated production environment to a debugging environment connected to the internet. This exposed the key to a China-based threat group, Storm-0558, who exploited it to compromise over two dozen customers, including the U.S. State Department.
Microsoft's production environment was criticized for failing to detect the exposure of the key. An internal investigation revealed that the crash dump, meant to redact sensitive information, contained the key due to a 'race condition'. Following the attacks, Microsoft changed its policies about charging customers for security log access. However, there are ongoing concerns that the threat actor may have additional undetected compromises, potentially extending beyond Microsoft 365 and Outlook to customer-owned applications. The compromised corporate account of a Microsoft engineer also allowed the group to steal sensitive emails from the State Department and potentially other officials. The additional victims include various software developers and end users whose applications or devices were compromised through intercepted or manipulated software updates.
Microsoft has taken steps to resolve larger detection and response issues related to the signing key. However, the timeline of the original breach raises questions about how many other crash dump files may have been found by the threat group. The breach highlights the importance of robust social security measures and timely responses to potential vulnerabilities.
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