Computer Question: Major graphics flaw threatens Windows PCs - Page 3

Michael Michigan · 09-14-2004, 09:09 PM

Okay guys---WTF does this one mean?

I use Mozilla Firefox for my browser and use outlook (not express) for my e-mail. And I also use word.

I do use IE for certain applications.

I have not installed WXP service pack 2.

What do I do?

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5366314.html

Microsoft published on Tuesday a patch for a major security flaw in its software's handling of the JPEG graphics format and urged customers to use a new tool to locate the many applications that are vulnerable.

The critical flaw has to do with how Microsoft's operating systems and other software process the widely used JPEG image format and could let attackers create an image file that would run a malicious program on a victim's computer as soon as the file is viewed. Because the software giant's Internet Explorer browser is vulnerable, Windows users could fall prey to an attack just by visiting a Web site that has affected images.

The severity of the flaw had some security experts worried that a virus that exploits the issue may be on the way.

"The potential is very high for an attack," said Craig Schmugar, virus research manager for security software company McAfee. "But that said, we haven't seen any proof-of-concept code yet." Such code illustrates how to abuse flaws and generally appears soon after a software maker publishes a patch for one of its products.

The flaw affects various versions of at least a dozen Microsoft software applications and operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Office XP, Office 2003, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Project, Visio, Picture It and Digital Image Pro. The software giant has a full list of affected applications in the advisory on its Web site. Windows XP Service Pack 2, which is still being distributed to many customers' computers, is not vulnerable to the flaw.

"The challenge is that (the flawed function) ships with a variety of products," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for Microsoft's incident response center.

Because so many applications are affected, Microsoft had to create a separate tool to help customers update their computers. Users of Windows Update will also be directed to the software giant's Office Update tool and then to the tool that will find and update imaging and development applications. The tools are a preview of what may come from the company in the future, Toulouse said.

"We know one of the most important things that we hear from customers is to make the software update process easier," he said. "A goal of a unified update mechanism is what we are looking at."

Out of necessity, Linux distributions have already developed such unified update software, which not only updates the core operating system but also other applications created by the open-source community. The majority of Windows applications, however, are created by companies other than Microsoft, making such a unified update system more politically difficult to create.

The JPEG processing flaw enables a program hidden in an image file to execute on a victim's system. The flaw is unrelated to another image vulnerability found in early August. That vulnerability, in a common code library designed to support the Portable Network Graphics, or PNG, format, affected applications running on Linux, Windows and Apple's Mac OS X. Both the JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and PNG formats are commonly used by Web sites.

As part of a notification program that has been in place since April 2004, any customer that had signed a nondisclosure agreement with Microsoft received a three-day advance warning about the JPEG flaw.

"Some customers wanted to get more information, for planning purposes," Toulouse said, responding to media reports that premium customers were getting advanced notice of security issues. He directed interested customers to their Microsoft sales representative to get more information on the program. The information given to participants in the program is limited to the number of flaws, the applications affected and the maximum threat level assigned to the flaws.

The JPEG image-processing vulnerability is the latest flaw from Microsoft and the source of the company's 28th advisory this year. Microsoft frequently includes multiple issues in a single advisory; four advisories in April, for example, contained more than 20 vulnerabilities.

A second patch released by Microsoft on Tuesday fixes a flaw in the WordPerfect file converter in Microsoft Office, Publisher, Word and Works. That flaw is rated "important," Microsoft's second-highest threat level, just below "critical." The vulnerability would let an attacker take control of the victim's PC, if that user opened a malicious WordPerfect document.

More information on the second flaw can be found in the advisory on Microsoft's Web site. The software giant recommends that customers use Office Update to download the fix.

**Lzen** · 09-20-2004, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavKC

I just love how some the media outlets love to overblow some problems, and not report enough on others.

And then you get people on message boards around the world who come in posting in a panic state about one thing or another, and then it turns into a "friend of friend said don't do this blah blah blah"

ext thing you know certain problems with software, hardware, chipsets, drivers, etc... become this big bad and scary thing, and getting anyone to see the truth of the matter is like pulling teeth. It becomes "The Gospel" and so many people are given bad information

I figured the AMD64 "bug" couldn't of been that big since I've been running SP2 RC1, RC2 and now the Final version without any sort of major hickup.

I did try out the DEP feature back when I had SP2 RC1 installed, and the only thing that happen is that it would not let XP's Movie Maker run....bwhahaha

As for graphics bug, they have fix for it, so it's not all that scary, unless people refuse to update.

I'm thinking of installing SP2 but, I do use Window Movie Maker. I have Ulead Studios but it's only version 5.0 (I think). Anyway, WMM has a better capture than Ulead's. I also have Winpatrol installed. So, I'm guessing that I don't need that DEP feature turned on. Is this correct? Also, how do you turn off the Windows firewall in XP?

09-14-2004, 09:09 PM
Michael Michigan scribe Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $10004900	Computer Question: Major graphics flaw threatens Windows PCs Okay guys---WTF does this one mean? I use Mozilla Firefox for my browser and use outlook (not express) for my e-mail. And I also use word. I do use IE for certain applications. I have not installed WXP service pack 2. What do I do? http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5366314.html Microsoft published on Tuesday a patch for a major security flaw in its software's handling of the JPEG graphics format and urged customers to use a new tool to locate the many applications that are vulnerable. The critical flaw has to do with how Microsoft's operating systems and other software process the widely used JPEG image format and could let attackers create an image file that would run a malicious program on a victim's computer as soon as the file is viewed. Because the software giant's Internet Explorer browser is vulnerable, Windows users could fall prey to an attack just by visiting a Web site that has affected images. The severity of the flaw had some security experts worried that a virus that exploits the issue may be on the way. "The potential is very high for an attack," said Craig Schmugar, virus research manager for security software company McAfee. "But that said, we haven't seen any proof-of-concept code yet." Such code illustrates how to abuse flaws and generally appears soon after a software maker publishes a patch for one of its products. The flaw affects various versions of at least a dozen Microsoft software applications and operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Office XP, Office 2003, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Project, Visio, Picture It and Digital Image Pro. The software giant has a full list of affected applications in the advisory on its Web site. Windows XP Service Pack 2, which is still being distributed to many customers' computers, is not vulnerable to the flaw. "The challenge is that (the flawed function) ships with a variety of products," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for Microsoft's incident response center. Because so many applications are affected, Microsoft had to create a separate tool to help customers update their computers. Users of Windows Update will also be directed to the software giant's Office Update tool and then to the tool that will find and update imaging and development applications. The tools are a preview of what may come from the company in the future, Toulouse said. "We know one of the most important things that we hear from customers is to make the software update process easier," he said. "A goal of a unified update mechanism is what we are looking at." Out of necessity, Linux distributions have already developed such unified update software, which not only updates the core operating system but also other applications created by the open-source community. The majority of Windows applications, however, are created by companies other than Microsoft, making such a unified update system more politically difficult to create. The JPEG processing flaw enables a program hidden in an image file to execute on a victim's system. The flaw is unrelated to another image vulnerability found in early August. That vulnerability, in a common code library designed to support the Portable Network Graphics, or PNG, format, affected applications running on Linux, Windows and Apple's Mac OS X. Both the JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and PNG formats are commonly used by Web sites. As part of a notification program that has been in place since April 2004, any customer that had signed a nondisclosure agreement with Microsoft received a three-day advance warning about the JPEG flaw. "Some customers wanted to get more information, for planning purposes," Toulouse said, responding to media reports that premium customers were getting advanced notice of security issues. He directed interested customers to their Microsoft sales representative to get more information on the program. The information given to participants in the program is limited to the number of flaws, the applications affected and the maximum threat level assigned to the flaws. The JPEG image-processing vulnerability is the latest flaw from Microsoft and the source of the company's 28th advisory this year. Microsoft frequently includes multiple issues in a single advisory; four advisories in April, for example, contained more than 20 vulnerabilities. A second patch released by Microsoft on Tuesday fixes a flaw in the WordPerfect file converter in Microsoft Office, Publisher, Word and Works. That flaw is rated "important," Microsoft's second-highest threat level, just below "critical." The vulnerability would let an attacker take control of the victim's PC, if that user opened a malicious WordPerfect document. More information on the second flaw can be found in the advisory on Microsoft's Web site. The software giant recommends that customers use Office Update to download the fix.
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