IE Flaw Affects Windows XP SP2 Systems
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The &quot;highly criticial&quot; vulnerability affects Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5, and 6 on fully patched PCs running either Windows XP SP1 or the newer SP2.
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(InfoWorld) - Hackers areÂ intensifying their attacks on Internet Explorer users, increasing the chances that Microsoft Corp. will patch a critical flaw in the software ahead of its regularly scheduled Oct. 10 security update. On Sunday, hackers released sample code showing how to exploit the IE flaw on a fully patched version of Windows XP, a move that security experts believe will step up the attacks.Â Criminals have been taking advantage of a previously unknown vulnerability in cPanel Inc. software, widely used by Web hosting providers, to install the IE malware on Web servers. The Microsoft bug has to do with the way IE processes Web-based graphics code written in the Vector Markup Language (VML). It wasÂ first reported Monday Sept. 18 by researchers at Sunbelt Software Inc., who found that attackers were exploiting this vulnerability on a number ofÂ pornographic Web sites. Late last week, attackers started spreading their attack code by taking advantage of a second flaw in cPanel's Web hosting administration software. This product is used by Web hosting providers to give their customers an easy way to administer their Web sites. Hackers were able to exploit this problem to gain access to servers at hosting provider HostGator.com LLC and began adding malicious VML exploit code to the Web pages of HostGator's clients, starting late Thursday. In fact, the attackers had used the cPanel flaw to gain control of HostGator's servers weeks before the VML vulnerability was disclosed, according to Brent Oxley, CEO of HostGator.com, based in Boca Raton, Florida. "They took control of as many servers as they could and they were building an army." Oxley said."They waited idly for a month and when the Microsoft exploit came out that's when they launched the attack." HostGator servers are used to host about 500,000 Web sites, but not all were compromised. Oxley estimated that "thousands" were, however, and said that a number of other hosting providers have also fallen victim to the cPanel attack. The cPanel flaw has now been patched and HostGator.com customers are no longer serving up the VML exploits, but security experts wonder how widespread the cPanel compromise has been. "It's a little worrisome that these hackers appeared to be targeting that piece of software," said Rich Miller, an analyst with Netcraft Inc. "It's very common among large hosting companies." Whether or not these latest developments are worrisome to Microsoft is unclear. The company declined to comment on the matter Monday, referring reporters to aÂ Friday blog postingÂ by Microsoft Security Response Center Operations Manager Scott Deacon in which he said that his company was increasingly confident on its ability to release an early patch.Â  "Thereâs been some confusion about that, that somehow attacks are dramatic and widespread," Deacon wrote Friday. "Weâre just not seeing that from our data, and our Microsoft Security Response Alliance partners arenât seeing that at all either," he said. "Of course, that could change at any moment," Deacon added. Sunbelt Software agreed that the VML bug has not yet been widely exploited, but Sunbelt Vice President of Research and Development Eric Sites predicted that Microsoft would release an early patch. "I think this week will be a lot more active because of the new proof-of-concept codes coming out," he said. On Monday, security researchers reported that attackers were staring to send out spam in hopes of luring victims to malicious Web sites. One attack tells victims that they've received a "Yahoo! Greeting Card," and invites them to click on a link. The link takes the victim to a Web site that installs code that collects information on the victim's online activity. More information on this attack can be foundÂ here. As a temporary workaround, Microsoft's has advised users to unregister the dll used to render VML images. Information on how to do this, along with otherÂ possible workarounds for the problem can be found here. Although it is not recommended by Microsoft, aÂ patch for the bug was released by a group of security researchers on Friday. ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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Microsoft has a technical work-around for users who found IE crashing after recent security update.
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Microsoft Corp. Thursday said it is investigating claims that several new vulnerabilities have been found in Windows XP Service Pack 2 by security firm Finjan Software Inc. in San Jose, Calif. Finjan on Tuesday announced that it had found as many as 10 "serious" flaws in SP2.
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Plus: A new vulnerability in Windows XP, and Excel has trouble with math.
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The update for the Mozilla browser fixes an unusual vulnerability that could cause malicious code to run if the browser is launched by Microsoft's IE.
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Take two Two groups of security researchers have released unofficial patches designed to protect surfers against an outstanding Internet Explorer vulnerability in the absence of available security updates from Microsoft.â¦
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A new flaw has been discovered in Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer browser that allows malicious users to create fake sites that could lead to new email phishing scams.
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Attacks exploit IE flaw, and allow attacker to gain complete control of your PC.
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A US security company is warning that it has found ten &#39;serious&#39; vulnerabilities in Windows XP systems with SP2 installed.
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PC Magazine - A malicious PDF is exploiting a URL-handling flaw in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 running IE7.
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Windows XP Service Pack 2 gets a 'hotfix' for VPNs, part of the \
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If you have spyware installed on your computer system and you update your operating system with the latest Windows XP Service pack 2 (SP2) update, your computer could possibly freeze.
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(InfoWorld) - One day after patching a widely exploited flawÂ in its Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft Corp. has a new bug to worry about, this time in PowerPoint. Attackers have been exploiting a newly discovered bug in Microsoft's Office presentation software in extremely targeted attacks, McAfee Inc. reported Wednesday. Researchers were made aware of the attacks when a customer submitted two different malicious PowerPoint files, both of which exploited the same vulnerability, said Craig Schmugar, a virus researcher at McAfee. Both files installed malicious remote access Trojan software that then attempted to connect to an outside Web server, he said. Though McAfee is not releasing technical details of the exploit, the security vendor says that it has confirmed that the attack works on three versions of Office running on the Windows 2000 operating system: Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003. Other platforms and other Office applications may also be affected, but McAfee has not yet had time to complete its testing, Schmugar said. Schmugar has blogged about the issueÂ  . Microsoft issued a security advisory on the matter Wednesday, saying that the issue affects users of Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office 2003, and Microsoft Office XP, as well as Microsoft PowerPoint 2004 for Mac. Microsoft's advisory can beÂ found here. As a workaround, Microsoft suggests that users open and view files using PowerPoint Viewer 2003. This software "does not contain the vulnerable code and is not susceptible to this attack," the advisory states. The PowerPoint viewer can beÂ downloaded here. Microsoft and other security vendors, including Symantec Corp. and McAfee, have added signatures to their security products so that they can detect this malicious code. Over the past few months, attackers have focused on Office, exploiting a number of undisclosed Office bugs in extremely targeted attacks, often on government agencies or contractors. These attacks usually take the form of an e-mail that has a malicious Office document attached and is sent to a small number of target victims This latest PowerPoint attack fits that pattern and was sent to a defense contractor, Schmugar said. He declined to provide further details on the intended victim. Because the attack has been extremely limited in scope it is considered to be a low risk for most users, Schmugar said. News of the attack comes the day afterÂ Microsoft issued an emergency patch for a widely exploited bug that affected the VML (Vector Markup Language) rendering engine used by Internet Explorer and Outlook. Hackers are exploiting this critical flaw in the browser via mass e-mail and on thousands of Web sites, security experts said. Microsoft's next set of security patches will be released Oct. 10. The software vendor did not say whether it plans to patch this latest PowerPoint flaw.
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New vulnerabilities include a critical flaw in Internet Explorer and a "major" bug in Firefox.
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SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. released a critical security patch Wednesday to fix a flaw in its Internet Explorer Web browser that could allow an attacker to run malicious software on another person&#39;s computer.
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IE exploit code could boost risk of browser mishaps. Microsoft says teamwork makes for better defenses.