📄 Description (English)
Microsoft Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) Privilege Escalation Vulnerability — Microsoft Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) within Azure VM Management Extensions contains an unspecified vulnerability allowing privilege escalation.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2021-38648 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) affecting Azure VM Management Extensions with a CVSS score of 9.0. Exploitation allows attackers to escalate privileges on affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise. This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations leveraging Azure cloud infrastructure for critical operations. Immediate patching is essential given the availability of functional exploits.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 21, 2026 04:56
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
High impact on Saudi banking sector (SAMA-regulated institutions) utilizing Azure for core banking systems and customer data management. Government agencies (NCA, CITC) relying on Azure cloud infrastructure for e-government services face critical risk. Healthcare sector (MOH facilities, private hospitals) storing patient data on Azure VMs vulnerable to unauthorized access. Energy sector (ARAMCO, utilities) using Azure for operational technology and SCADA systems at elevated risk. Telecommunications providers (STC, Mobily, Zain) managing customer infrastructure on Azure face potential service disruption and data breach scenarios.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services
Government and Public Administration
Healthcare and Medical Services
Energy and Utilities
Telecommunications
Cloud Service Providers
Critical Infrastructure
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
T1548.004 - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Elevated Execution with Prompt
T1548 - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism
T1134 - Access Token Manipulation
T1547.001 - Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
T1543.003 - Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service
T1611 - Escape to Host
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Azure VMs with OMI installed by querying Azure Resource Manager for Microsoft.OstcExtensions/OMIExtension resources
2. Prioritize systems in production environments and those handling sensitive data (PII, financial records, healthcare data)
3. Implement network segmentation to restrict lateral movement from compromised VMs
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Apply Microsoft security update KB5004394 or later for OMI
2. Update Azure VM Agent to version 2.7.41960.0 or later
3. Redeploy affected VMs with patched images from Azure Marketplace
4. For on-premises OMI installations, apply patches from Microsoft Update Catalog
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if immediate patching delayed):
1. Restrict local administrative access and implement principle of least privilege
2. Enable Azure Security Center monitoring for privilege escalation attempts
3. Deploy host-based intrusion detection (HIDS) to monitor OMI process execution
4. Implement AppLocker/Windows Defender Application Control to restrict unauthorized binary execution
5. Enable audit logging for privilege escalation events (Event ID 4688, 4672)
DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor for OMI daemon (omiagent, omiserver) spawning child processes with elevated privileges
2. Alert on unexpected outbound connections from OMI processes
3. Track modifications to /opt/omi/bin/ directory permissions
4. Monitor for sudo/su execution initiated by OMI service account
5. Implement YARA rules to detect OMI exploitation payloads in memory
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع أجهزة Azure VMs المثبت عليها OMI من خلال الاستعلام عن موارد Microsoft.OstcExtensions/OMIExtension
2. إعطاء الأولوية للأنظمة في بيئات الإنتاج والتي تتعامل مع البيانات الحساسة
3. تطبيق تقسيم الشبكة لتقييد الحركة الجانبية من أجهزة VM المخترقة
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. تطبيق تحديث الأمان من Microsoft KB5004394 أو أحدث لـ OMI
2. تحديث Azure VM Agent إلى الإصدار 2.7.41960.0 أو أحدث
3. إعادة نشر أجهزة VM المتأثرة باستخدام صور مصححة من Azure Marketplace
4. للتثبيتات المحلية لـ OMI، تطبيق التصحيحات من Microsoft Update Catalog
الضوابط البديلة:
1. تقييد الوصول الإداري المحلي وتطبيق مبدأ أقل امتياز
2. تفعيل مراقبة Azure Security Center لمحاولات رفع الامتيازات
3. نشر كشف التسلل على مستوى المضيف لمراقبة تنفيذ عمليات OMI
4. تطبيق AppLocker للتحكم في تنفيذ البرامج غير المصرح بها
5. تفعيل تسجيل الأحداث لأحداث رفع الامتيازات
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة عمليات OMI التي تولد عمليات فرعية برفع امتيازات
2. تنبيهات الاتصالات الخارجية غير المتوقعة من عمليات OMI
3. تتبع تعديلات أذونات دليل /opt/omi/bin/
4. مراقبة تنفيذ sudo/su من قبل حساب خدمة OMI
5. تطبيق قواعد YARA للكشف عن حمولات استغلال OMI في الذاكرة
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies (privilege escalation prevention)
ECC 2024 A.8.1.1 - Asset Management (vulnerability tracking for cloud infrastructure)
ECC 2024 A.12.2.1 - Change Management (patch deployment procedures)
ECC 2024 A.12.6.1 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities (timely patching)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.RA-1 - Asset Management and Criticality Assessment
SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control and Authentication
SAMA CSF PR.PT-2 - Protective Technology (patch management)
SAMA CSF DE.CM-8 - Vulnerability Scanning and Management
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.15 - Access Control (privilege management)
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - Asset Management (inventory of systems)
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.2 - Information Security Responsibilities
ISO 27001:2022 A.12.3.1 - Configuration Management (secure baselines)
ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6.1 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
PCI DSS 6.2 - Security patches and updates (if payment systems affected)
PCI DSS 11.2 - Vulnerability scanning (detection of OMI vulnerabilities)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Microsoft:Open Management Infrastructure (OMI)