Several tech companies released patches this week for critical vulnerabilities that infosec pros should ensure are installed as soon as possible.
–Dell released hotfixes for its EMC Avamar and Integrated Data Protection Appliance products. VMware’s vSphere Data Protection, which is based on Avamar, is also affected by the issues.
–Adobe has released security updates for its Flash Player for Windows, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS to address  a critical vulnerability in Flash Player 31.0.0.148 and earlier versions. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
— Meanwhile, there are reports that a vulnerability in a WordPress plugin called AMP is being exploited after it took weeks to issue a patch.
Dell said the EMC Avamar Client Manager in Avamar Server and Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) requires security updates to address a remote code execution vulnerability and an open redirection vulnerability.
The remote code execution vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2018-11066. Affected are Avamar Server versions 7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.3.0, 7.3.1, 7.4.0, 7.4.1, 7.5.0, 7.5.1, 18.1 and Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) versions 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2.
The open redirection vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2018-11067. It can be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker to redirect users to arbitrary URLs by tricking them into clicking on a specially crafted link. Affected are Avamar Server versions 7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.3.0, 7.3.1, 7.4.0 and 7.4.1 and Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) 2.0.
For an explanation of Dell’s severity ratings, refer to Dell EMC Knowledgebase article 468307 (https://support.emc.com/kb/468307). Information on the Vsphere Data Protection updates can be found here.
The Adobe Flash security bulletin can be found here.
 Security writer Graham Cluley says recently discovered vulnerability in a popular WordPress plugin for speeding up displays on mobile devices called Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is being actively exploited by hackers attempting to install backdoors on websites, inject custom code, and grant themselves admin rights.
The problem is AMP was withdrawn a month ago, apparently because bugs were discovered, and the fix wasn’t issued until last week. According to a website protection service called WebARX, the vulnerabilities allow an unauthorized user to change any plugin option, including injecting custom HTML code on the main page.
The updated AMP plugin, now available is version 0.9.97.20.
Meanwhile, Linux administrators who run the Drupal content manager are being warned they be in trouble if they haven’t yet installed long-released patches to combat the Drupalgeddon 2.0 and DirtyCow vulnerabilities.
In a blog this week security vendor Imperva said attackers are using a chain of vulnerabilities and taking advantage of system misconfigurations to persistently infect vulnerable Drupal web servers and take over user machines.
“Administrators should make sure that their web application is fully patched as well as the operating system of the host,” says Imperva. “Alternately, it is possible to use external cybersecurity solution, like a WAF (web application firewall), to block the attack before it reaches the server.”
