Microsoft is rolling out a quick fix for an on-premises Exchange Server vulnerability for customers that do not have dedicated cybersecurity or IT teams.
In a security blog, Microsoft said it has released a new one-click mitigation tool to help customers that lack the cybersecurity or IT expertise to apply the security updates that patch a zero-day vulnerability that could allow an attacker to infiltrate an organization’s email server, steal information or hold data for ransom.
According to Microsoft, the company has been working with been working with customers through customer support teams, third-party hosters and partner networks to help them secure their networks and patch the vulnerabilities first exploited by a Chinese hacking group called Hafnium, but not every customer has the resources or technical wherewithal to take on this challenge.
To that end, the company has released a one-click mitigation tool for customers without dedicated security or IT teams.
“We have tested this tool across Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019 deployments,” the Microsoft Security Response Center Team said in a blog post. “This new tool is designed as an interim mitigation for customers who are unfamiliar with the patch/update process or who have not yet applied the on-premises Exchange security update.”
The tool includes the latest Microsoft Security Scanner and can help customers automatically mitigate the most critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-26855, on any Exchange server on which it is deployed.
Microsoft cautions that the tool isn’t a replacement for the full Exchange security update, but is the fastest and easiest way to mitigate the highest risks to internet-connected on-premises Exchange Servers prior to patching.
Further, the tool is effective against the attacks seen so far but is not guaranteed to guard all possible future attack techniques, according to Microsoft.
“This tool should only be used as a temporary mitigation until your Exchange servers can be fully updated as outlined in our previous guidance,” reads a bolded statement on the blog.
Microsoft has released necessary security patches for the affected versions of Exchange Server, and has released security updates for out-of-support versions as well.
Follow Microsoft’s guidance on this for more information and instructions.
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