HP has already issued a patch fixing the said flaw after it came to their notice.
Among others, one of the most commonly discovered bundled software that utilizes the Open Hardware Monitor is HP TouchPoint Analytics, an apparatus that keeps running on many HP laptops and desktops around the world and along these lines putting a similar number of customers in danger.
Since devices, for example, HP TouchPoint Analytics are stacked assigned services and are accordingly whitelisted by numerous 'anti-malware' tools and this is most likely one of the main reasons why the flaw is said to be a 'potentially critical' one.
Because HP's laptops and desktop systems while being utilized for personal use, are additionally broadly utilized in enterprises that manage conceivably very sensitive data. This makes the disclosure considerably more sensitive, since, through this privilege escalation process, attackers could essentially target IT administrator setups, enter specific terminals, introduce 'arbitrary and malicious' DLL files into the framework and access the machines being referred to, and thusly gain access to the high sensitivity data.
For this situation, the HP TouchPoint Analytics tool had high, root-level framework access, and being a whitelisted instrument, enabled attackers to escalate the 'system privilege' to access critical parts of the system. Potential use cases for hackers here incorporate "data theft, undetected tracking of users and critical surveillance activities."
"These types of vulnerabilities are alarming because they indicate the ease with which malicious hackers could mount supply-chain attacks targeting and breaching highly trusted elements of our software ecosystem. This should be a clear signal to security teams that they need to increase their frequency of testing and analysis of their security envelope, in order to match the pace of criminals who are constantly innovating ways to hack into the most vulnerable parts of IT systems," said Itzik Kotler, co-founder and chief technology officer of SafeBreach.
The flaw has since been patched by HP, although SafeBreach warns and makes reference to any other organization utilizing the Open Hardware Monitor tool is still possibly in danger.
