The Overlooked Attack Surface: Diving into Windows Client Components for RCE Vulnerabilities

This Black Hat conference talk explores a novel approach to discovering Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in Windows client components. Learn how researchers uncovered more than 10 RCE vulnerabilities in critical Windows client components including Performance Monitor, Event Viewer, Routing and Remote Access, Task Scheduler, Services, and Windows Admin Center. The 34-minute presentation challenges the conventional security perspective that prioritizes servers over clients, demonstrating how client components can be equally or more vulnerable to attacks. Follow along as the speakers analyze component architectures, underlying protocols, and strategies for uncovering zero-day bugs, including a real-world vulnerability demonstration that attacks C# memory-safety features. Gain valuable insights into conducting attack surface analysis for client targets from security researchers Qinghe Xie, Fangming Gu, Zong Cao, and Qingli Guo, who share their experience after initially discovering an RCE vulnerability in the Distributed File System Replication service.