by Krishna Mohan
Microsoft issued a patch for the already-exploited Windows animated cursor vulnerability with a critical out-of-cycle security update that also fixed six other flaws.
The MS07-017 security bulletin, released a week ahead of the regularly scheduled April 10 patch date, fixes the ANI vulnerability that first surfaced last week when Microsoft acknowledged ongoing attacks. Since then, the bug has been tagged as “very dangerous” by security experts, has been distributed by hundreds of malicious Web sites, and was the focus of multiple spam campaigns designed to dupe users into visiting criminal Web sites.
On Sunday, Microsoft promised it would push out an early patch. Tuesday’s update is only the third since January 2005 to be posted outside the normal monthly schedule.
Microsoft based the early release decision on its own prognostications. “We have been monitoring the situation throughout and our indications, and those of our MSRA [Microsoft Security Response Alliance] partners, show there is a threat for attacks against this vulnerability to increase, although we haven’t seen anything widespread,” Christopher Budd, program manager at Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), said in a blog entry Tuesday.
Users can obtain the MS07-017 patches via Windows’ Automatic Update, from the Microsoft Update service or through enterprise tools such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Software Update Services (SUS).
Posted in Vista | Comments (0)
by Krishna Mohan
A vulnerability in the way Windows handles animated cursors puts users at risk. Several nefarious websites are already trying to exploit the flaw, according to the SANS Internet Storm Center.
The flaw is present on virtually the entire line of Windows OSes, including Vista, which has been held up as Redmond’s poster child for safe computing. According to McAfee, Windows users browsing malicious sites using Internet Explorer versions 6 or 7 risk having arbitrary code run on their machines. Those using Firefox are not vulnerable. Microsoft said in an advisory that those using IE 7 on Vista are safe from the vulnerability because of a protected mode, which restricts where the browser can write files.
“Upon viewing a web page, previewing or reading a specially crafted message, or opening a specially crafted email attachment the attacker could cause the affected system to execute code,” Microsoft warns. Files that can exploit the vulnerability are not limited to those with the .ani extension that come with most programs that animate the cursor on Windows machines. Some exploits in the wild are reported to be embedded in jpeg files, SANS says in an advisory.
Posted in Browsers, Vista, Windows XP | Comments (1)
by Krishna Mohan
Do you believe what Microsoft says about Vista being the most secure version of Windows yet? Do you trust in Microsoft’s OneCare anti-virus software to protect you? If your answer is yes, then you are in trouble. Microsoft yesterday acknowledged on their Technet Blog that poor test results of its OneCare anti-virus software in last month’s VB100 [Virus Bulletin 100], but promised it would do better by paying more attention to malware actually in the wild.
Windows Live OneCare’s skills have been called into question by other tests in recent weeks. Earlier this month, AV Comparatives, a nonprofit site that pits the most popular anti-virus products against nearly half a million pieces of malware, placed OneCare dead last in a list of 17 programs.
While Bill Gates has described Vista as ‘dramatically more secure’ than other operating systems, thanks to its numerous new security features, security researchers have challenged the claims, pointing out several shortfalls in the same security features.
For instance, while Sophos researchers have revealed numerous viruses working under Vista, anti-spyware firm Webroot has shown Windows Defender to fail to detect a high percentage of the spyware presented to it, and Kaspersky researchers have picked holes in the usefulness of the User Access Control system, demonstrated the vulnerability of Patchguard to rootkits, and surmised that as long as hackers and virus writers continue to search for vulnerabilities, they will continue to find them. It is recommended that you use at least another anti-virus / anti-malware/anti-spyware program in Vista to protect yourself.
Posted in Vista | Comments (0)
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