Windows 10 - Server: Emergency security updates

Microsoft released two emergency security updates late Tuesday to fix two vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows Codecs Library.

Vulnerabilities have been recorded as CVE-2020-1425 & CVE-2020-1457.  Security vulnerabilities affect only Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 versions.

According to Microsoft, the two security vulnerabilities can be exploited with the help of a specially designed image file.

So if a malicious image is opened in applications that use the built-in Windows Codecs library to manipulate the media, then it will allow intruders to run malicious code on a Windows computer and possibly take control of the device.

The two bugs, described as remote code execution vulnerabilities (RCE by remote code execution) were fixed late last night and released to the public this morning.

Updates to the Windows Codecs Library are available through the Windows Store application, not through Windows Update.

"Our customers do not need to take any action to receive the update," says Microsoft.

The Redmond-based company said the bugs were reported privately and have not been used to date when they were made public.

Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative, a program for intermediate communications between security researchers and larger companies, has announced vulnerabilities to Microsoft. Behind the discovery was researcher Abdul-Aziz Hariri, who handed over the errors to the ZDI team.