Google outs unpatched Windows 8.1 vulnerability, and debate rages on both sides

A Google researcher has disclosed an unpatched vulnerability in Windows 8.1 after Microsoft didn’t fix the problem within a 90-day window Google gave its competitor.

The disclosure of the bug on Google’s security research website early this week stirred up a debate about whether outing the vulnerability was appropriate.

The bug allows low-level Windows users to become administrators in some cases, but some posters on the Google site said the company should have kept its mouth shut. Google said it was unclear if versions of the Windows OS earlier than 8.1 were affected by the bug.

“Automatically disclosing this vulnerability when a deadline is reached with absolutely zero context strikes me as incredibly irresponsible and I’d have expected a greater degree of care and maturity from a company like Google,” one poster at the Google site wrote.

The vulnerability is “your average” local privilege escalation vulnerability, the same poster wrote. “That’s bad and unfortunate, but it’s also a fairly typical class of vulnerability, and not in the same class as those that keep people like me up at night patching servers,” the poster said. “The sad reality is that these sort of vulnerabilities are a dime a dozen on Windows.”

Another poster, in what may be a slight overstatement, suggested the versions of Windows affected are run by “billions” of computer users. “Exposing vulnerabilities like this has far reaching consequences,” the poster wrote. “People could get hurt by this and it doesn’t bring anyone closer to a solution. When an organization is as big and powerful as [Google], people working there need to think of themselves as stewards of a great power and work to be fair and regulate the harm that can come of misusing this great power when possible.”

Was it a secret worth telling?

Other posters praised Google for sticking to a deadline it’s had in place since it launched its Project Zero bug-tracking team last July. “No one is done any good by keeping it secret,” one poster wrote. “By exposing the [vulnerability] they allow those billions who may be running vulnerable systems to be aware of the threat to their own security and take countermeasures. A patch isn’t the only way to mitigate the issue. Given the nature of this vulnerability, there are other steps administrators can take to start protecting their vulnerable systems while they await a patch.”

Microsoft said in a statement it is working to release a security update to the reported vulnerability. “It is important to note that for a would-be attacker to potentially exploit a system, they would first need to have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to a targeted machine,” a spokesman said by email. “We encourage customers to keep their anti-virus software up to date, install all available security updates and enable the firewall on their computer.”

Google, in a statement published on Engadget, defended the release of the vulnerability information.

Google’s 90-day deadline for fixing bug is “the result of many years of careful consideration and industry-wide discussions about vulnerability remediation,” the company said. “Security researchers have been using roughly the same disclosure principles for the past 13 years … and we think that our disclosure principles need to evolve with the changing infosec ecosystem. In other words, as threats change, so should our disclosure policy.”

Google will monitor the effects of its policy closely, the company added. “We want our decisions here to be data driven, and we’re constantly seeking improvements that will benefit user security,” the company added. “We’re happy to say that initial results have shown that the majority of the bugs that we have reported under the disclosure deadline get fixed under deadline, which is a testament to the hard work of the vendors.”