|
By Cara Garretson
February's Patch Tuesday was a big event for Microsoft, which issued 13 security updates to fix holes in components of Windows and Office.
Five of the patches for Windows were rated critical, since leaving the OS unpatched could result in remote code execution on unsuspecting users' PCs. Seven of the others were deemed important, and one was classified as moderate. Typically, Microsoft's Patch Tuesday happens during the first week of the month, but instead of issuing patches on Feb. 2 the company released a security bulletin advance notification to help customers plan for the pending fixes.
On Feb. 9, Microsoft released the following security bulletins:
- A fix for Windows' SMB (Server Message Block) client resolving two vulnerabilities that allowed for remote code execution if an SMB client was connected to a malicious server. The fix corrects how the SMB client in Windows validates responses. Another fix issued on Tuesday addresses a hole that would allow remote code execution if a specific SMB packet was sent to a computer by repairing the way SMB validates requests.
- A fix for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 plugging a hole that allowed for remote code execution if an application passed certain data to the ShellExecute API function. The fix corrects the way the API validates input parameters, according to Microsoft.
- A fix for a Windows vulnerability that allows for remote code execution if a user visits a certain Web page that instantiates an ActiveX control with IE. The severity of this vulnerability would depend upon how user rights are set in IE. The fix sets a kill bit so that the vulnerable control doesn't run in IE.
- A fix for a vulnerability affecting versions of Windows with IPv6 enabled, which could allow remote code execution if certain packets were sent to PCs that use version 6 of the protocol. The patch changes the way Windows TCP/IP performs bounds checking and other packet-handling operations.
- A fix for Windows' DirectShow multimedia framework that repairs a vulnerability allowing remote code execution if a user opens certain AVI files, allowing an attacker to take complete control of a PC. The severity of the vulnerability would depend upon how user rights are set. With the fix, Microsoft says it has corrected the way DirectShow opens files.
- A fix for Office that closes a hole allowing an attacker to remotely execute code and take over a user's PC -- depending on user rights' settings -- if the user were to open certain Office files. The fix, for Office XP and Office 2004 for Mac, changes the way the applications open files.
- A fix for an Office PowerPoint vulnerability that could give remote access and control to an unauthorized user, depending on how rights are set. The patch is for Office PowerPoint 2002 and 2003, and Office PowerPoint 2004 for Mac, and changes the way the application and the PowerPoint Viewer parse certain files.
- A fix for a vulnerability in Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V that could allow for a Denial-of-Service attack if "… a malformed sequence of machine instructions is run by an authenticated user in one of the guest virtual machines hosted by the Hyper-V server," according to Microsoft. The attacker would require valid logon credentials and would have to be able to log on locally into a guest virtual machine in order to take advantage of the hole, the company says. The fix is for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and corrects the way the hypervisor validates certain code.
- A fix for the Client/Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, plugging a hole that could allow attackers to elevate privileges if they were in possession of valid logon credentials and had physical access to a system. The fix corrects the way users' processes are terminated upon log out, says Microsoft.
- A fix for a hole in Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 that could allow for a Denial-of-Service attack if a certain ticket renewal request was sent to the Windows Kerberos domain. The update corrects the way the Kerberos server deals with ticket renewal requests, says Microsoft.
- A fix to a Windows kernel vulnerability that allows attackers to elevate privileges if they logged onto a system and ran a certain application, affecting most versions of Windows. The patch ensures that the Windows kernel handles exceptions properly.
- A fix for a Microsoft Paint hole that could allow for remote code execution if a user were to open a certain JPEG image file, affecting Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. The patch corrects the way Paint decodes JPEG files.
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
