📄 Description (English)
Microsoft Windows Open Type Font Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows font library improperly handles specially crafted embedded fonts. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could take control of the affected system.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2016-7256 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows Open Type Font library that allows attackers to take complete control of affected systems through specially crafted embedded fonts. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and known exploits available in the wild, this vulnerability has been actively exploited and poses severe risk. Microsoft has released patches (MS16-132) addressing this vulnerability. Organizations running unpatched Windows systems are at immediate risk of compromise through malicious documents or web pages containing crafted fonts.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 6, 2026 14:40
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk across all Saudi sectors due to the widespread use of Windows systems. Government entities regulated by NCA, banking institutions under SAMA oversight, energy sector organizations including ARAMCO and its contractors, telecom providers like STC, and healthcare organizations are all at risk. The font-based attack vector is particularly dangerous as it can be delivered through email attachments, malicious websites, or compromised documents — common attack vectors targeting Saudi organizations. Legacy Windows systems still prevalent in some Saudi government and enterprise environments increase exposure significantly.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Energy
Telecom
Healthcare
Education
Defense
Retail
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
8.8
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Apply Microsoft security update MS16-132 immediately on all Windows systems
2. Verify patch deployment across all endpoints using vulnerability scanning tools
3. Enable Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) or Windows Defender Exploit Guard font mitigations
Compensating Controls:
1. Block untrusted fonts using Group Policy: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Mitigation Options > Untrusted Font Blocking
2. Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious payloads
3. Deploy network-level filtering to block malicious font files at email gateways and web proxies
4. Restrict user privileges to limit impact of successful exploitation
Detection Rules:
1. Monitor Windows Event Log for Event ID 1 (font blocking events) under Microsoft-Windows-Win32k/Operational
2. Deploy IDS/IPS signatures for malicious OTF font exploitation attempts
3. Monitor for suspicious font file downloads and processing anomalies
4. Implement endpoint detection rules for unusual win32k.sys behavior
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تطبيق تحديث الأمان MS16-132 من مايكروسوفت فوراً على جميع أنظمة Windows
2. التحقق من نشر التصحيح عبر جميع نقاط النهاية باستخدام أدوات فحص الثغرات
3. تفعيل أداة تخفيف الاستغلال المحسنة (EMET) أو حماية استغلال Windows Defender لتخفيف الخطوط
الضوابط التعويضية:
1. حظر الخطوط غير الموثوقة باستخدام سياسة المجموعة: تكوين الكمبيوتر > القوالب الإدارية > النظام > خيارات التخفيف > حظر الخطوط غير الموثوقة
2. تنفيذ القائمة البيضاء للتطبيقات لمنع تنفيذ الحمولات الضارة
3. نشر تصفية على مستوى الشبكة لحظر ملفات الخطوط الضارة عند بوابات البريد الإلكتروني ووكلاء الويب
4. تقييد صلاحيات المستخدمين للحد من تأثير الاستغلال الناجح
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة سجل أحداث Windows للحدث رقم 1 (أحداث حظر الخطوط)
2. نشر توقيعات IDS/IPS لمحاولات استغلال خطوط OTF الضارة
3. مراقبة تنزيلات ملفات الخطوط المشبوهة
4. تنفيذ قواعد كشف نقاط النهاية للسلوك غير العادي لـ win32k.sys
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
2-3-1 (Patch Management)
2-3-4 (Vulnerability Management)
2-5-1 (Malware Protection)
2-2-1 (Asset Management)
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.3 (Patch Management)
3.3.4 (Vulnerability Management)
3.3.7 (Malware Protection)
3.4.1 (Incident Management)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.8.8 (Management of technical vulnerabilities)
A.8.7 (Protection against malware)
A.8.9 (Configuration management)
A.5.24 (Information security incident management planning)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
6.3.3 (Install critical security patches within one month)
5.2 (Deploy anti-malware solutions)
11.3 (Perform penetration testing)
6.1 (Identify and rank vulnerabilities)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Microsoft:Windows