CVE-2024-29988: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2024-29988 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in Microsoft Defender SmartScreen discovered in early 2024. The vulnerability was reported by researchers including Peter Girnus from Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) and researchers from Google's Threat Analysis Group (Dmitrij Lenz and Vlad Stolyarov). It received a CVSSv3 score of 8.8 and was rated as important (Tenable Blog, Help Net Security).

The vulnerability is a security feature bypass in Microsoft Defender SmartScreen that could allow attackers to bypass security protections. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted files in a zipped format to evade EDR/NDR detection and bypass Mark of the Web (MotW) protections. The vulnerability received a high severity CVSSv3 score of 8.8 (Tenable Blog).

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass Microsoft Defender SmartScreen security features, potentially leading to execution of malicious files without proper security warnings. The vulnerability was discovered being actively exploited in the wild, making it particularly concerning for organizations (Help Net Security).

Microsoft addressed this vulnerability as part of its April 2024 Patch Tuesday security updates. Organizations are advised to apply the available patches as soon as possible to protect against potential exploitation (Tenable Blog).