Security

Microsoft said on Thursday that it will offer six updates for 12 vulnerabilities next week including a critical hole in Internet Explorer that affects Windows 7 and other current versions of the operating system for which exploit code has been released.

Late last month, Microsoft said it was investigating an IE vulnerability after someone released proof-of-concept code affecting IE 6 and IE 7 that could be used to take control of computers.

Microsoft described the problem in an advisory issued November 23: "The vulnerability exists as an invalid pointer reference of Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for a CSS/Style object to be accessed after the object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, Internet Explorer attempting to access a freed object can lead to running attacker-supplied code."

Of the six updates Microsoft will release on Patch Tuesday, three of them are critical, according to a Microsoft security bulletin advance notification.

Software affected includes Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, and Office 2003.

Microsoft said Tuesday that its investigation has turned up no evidence that anything in its November security updates should be causing users to encounter a so-called "black screen of death."

"Microsoft has investigated reports that its November security updates made changes to permissions in the registry that that are resulting in system issues for some customers," Microsoft security response communications lead Christopher Budd said in a statement. "The company has found those reports to be inaccurate and our comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behavior described in the reports."

Microsoft said it was not contacted by British security firm Prevx before that company went public with its claims. Microsoft said it has reached out to them to let them know the results of its investigation.

The company said on Monday that it would look into the matter, but issued an update later in the day saying it could not verify any issues.

"Our support organization is also not seeing this as an issue," Budd said on Tuesday. "The claims also do not match any known issues that have been documented in the security bulletins or (knowledge base) articles.

Update, 3:15 p.m. PT: Prevx posted an updated blog saying that it has done additional testing.

"Having narrowed down a specific trigger for this condition we've done quite a bit of testing and re-testing on the recent Windows patches," the comapny said. "Since more specifically narrowing down the cause we have been able to exonerate these patches from being a contributory factor."

The company also offered up a mea culpa to Redmond and said it also recommends users keep patching their systems promptly. "We apologize to Microsoft for any inconvenience our blog may have caused."

Microsoft said on Monday that it is looking into reports that its latest security updates are causing some serious problems for certain users.

The problem has been dubbed the "black screen of death" because those affected are left with a black desktop and little else on their screen.

"Microsoft is investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers," the software maker said in a statement. "Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues. "

The issue was noted by British security firm Prevx on its blog on Friday, with that company also offering a suggested fix for the problem.

"The symptoms are very distinctive and troublesome," Prevx said. "After logging on there is no desktop, task bar, system tray or sidebar. Instead you are left with a totally black screen and a single My Computer Explorer window."

Prevx suggested that the black screen issue can occur on a wide range of Windows machines from Windows NT through Windows 7. In its blog, Prevx said there appear to be many causes of the black-screen issue, not all of which are related to the security update.

"In researching this issue we have identified at least 10 different scenarios which will trigger the same black screen conditions," Prevx said. "These appear to have been around for years now." As for the latest security update, Prevx said changes to the way registry keys are handled appears to be the reason it is causing black screens.

I've asked Microsoft what it recommends users should do for now and will post its answer here.

Microsoft released its latest security updates on November 10, issuing six bulletins addressing 15 flaws.

Update, 3:35 p.m. PT: A Microsoft representative said that the company continues to recommend that customers "test and deploy" the November security updates.

"Based on our investigation so far we can say that we're not seeing this as an issue from our support organization," the representative said. "The issues as described also do not match any known issues that have been documented in the security bulletins or (knowledge base) articles."

Microsoft on Tuesday issued six security bulletins fixing 15 vulnerabilities, including a critical patch for holes in the Windows kernel and other Windows and Office components that could allow an attacker to take control of a computer.

The critical bulletin affecting the Kernel-Mode Drivers was publicly disclosed and could be used to create a Web page with malware designed to exploit the hole on systems that visit the page, Microsoft said in a blog posting.

"MS09-065, a bug in the Windows kernel, is this month's most serious issue," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle. "The vulnerability allows for remote code execution, and the attack code can be embedded inside MS Office files or be hosted on websites. Simply browsing an infected website will compromise unsuspecting users -- not great for all the holiday shoppers looking to get a jump on their shopping. The novelty value of this bug is likely to attract many researchers. A lot of people will try to be the first to publicly post exploit code."

The two other critical bulletins fix holes in Web Services on Devices API and in License Logging Server. Two bulletins ranked "important" fix holes that pose risk of remote code execution if a user opened a maliciously crafted Excel or Word file.

"It is interesting that a new service that helps with the 'user experience' can cause so much harm," said Jason Miller, data and security team leader at Shavlik Technologies. "The WSDAPI service allows users to easily find devices such as printers and cameras on their network. This vulnerability is also not publicly known at this time."

Software affected by the patches includes Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office System, Office 2004 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac, according to the bulletin.

Meanwhile, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center team added two rogue antivirus families to the Malicious Software Removal Tool -- Win32/FakeVimes, which calls itself "Windows System Defender" and "Windows Enterprise Suite," and Win32/PrivacyCenter, which calls itself "Safety Center."

Microsoft said on Thursday it will issue six patches next week for 15 vulnerabilities, including three critical bulletins affecting Windows and two important Office-related bulletins.

Affected software includes Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, 2007 Microsoft Office System, Office 2004 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac, the company said in an advisory.

November's Patch Tuesday is a contrast to the record number of fixes issued last month--13 bulletins for 34 vulnerabilities.

Updated 2:52 p.m. PST to correct that there will be six patches fixing 15 vulnerabilities.

Tuesday was the biggest Patch Tuesday ever as Microsoft released 13 bulletins for 34 vulnerabilities. But just because Microsoft issues patches, does that mean that users should apply them? Yes, says Ben Greenbaum, senior research manager for Symantec Security.

Greenbaum said that these patches impacted many Microsoft products, including Windows 7 that isn't even out yet.

Microsoft released a record number of 13 bulletins for 34 vulnerabilities on Patch Tuesday--and the first critical update for Windows 7--as well as fixes for zero-day flaws involving Server Message Block (SMB) and Internet Information Services (IIS).

The most severe of the three SMB flaws, which were first reported last month, could allow an attacker to take control of a computer remotely by sending a specially crafted SMB packet to a computer running the Server service. Exploit code for one of the SMB holes has been posted to the Web, Microsoft said.

Windows 7 is affected by two critical patches intended to mend vulnerabilities that could allow remote code execution if a malicious Web page were viewed, one part of a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer and the other in .Net Framework and Silverlight.

The official release date for Windows 7 is October 22, but the new operating system has been available to some large businesses with volume licenses since the summer. The code was finalized in July.

Other critical patches in the security bulletin for October fix a vulnerability in Windows Media Runtime that could be exploited if a user opened a malicious media file or received malicious streaming content from a Web site or application, and if a specially crafted ASF (Advanced Systems Format) file is played using Windows Media Player 6.4.

Among the critical updates: a cumulative security update of ActiveX Kill Bits that is being exploited and that affects ActiveX controls compiled using Active Template Library (ATL); and another patch resolving several vulnerabilities in ATL ActiveX Controls that could allow remote code execution if a user loaded a malicious component or control. ActiveX and ATLs were the subject of an emergency patch Microsoft released in July.

The final critical bulletin fixes a hole in Windows GDI+ (Graphics Device Interface) that could allow an attacker to take control of a computer if the user viewed a malicious image file using affected software or browsed a malicious Web page.

"Microsoft has repeatedly had to fix problems related to the Graphics Device Interface in Windows, and vulnerabilities in the component have been exploited broadly in the past. We can expect that security researchers will be looking to reverse-engineer today's patches, which may very well lead to exploits being created," said Dave Marcus, director of security research and communications at McAfee Labs.

Related "For the Record" podcast, with Symantec's Ben Greenbaum
Listen now: Download today's podcast

Nine of the vulnerabilities were previously disclosed, which meant that attackers had time to come up with so-called "zero-day" exploits before the patches were available, Marcus noted.

The most alarming vulnerability in the mix is the SMB flaw, which was introduced by the patch for a different vulnerability, according to Josh Phillips, virus researcher at Kaspersky Lab.

Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle, said the bug that is likely to have the biggest impact will be the critical one that affects Windows Media Runtime and involves a speech codec bug that has limited exploits in the wild. "This is a typical file-parsing issue and similar to vulnerabilities that have allowed attackers to create drive-by attacks that infect unsuspecting video viewers," he said.

Meanwhile, the critical SMB vulnerability is relatively difficult to exploit given default firewall conditions, but the IIS bugs are easy to exploit, Storms added.

"The sheer volume of the bulletins and patches is extreme," said Jason Miller, senior data team leader for Shavlik Technologies. "This is really going to affect administrators. It's going to be very challenging because of the time and research that's going to be needed" to patch systems.

Also released were five bulletins rated "important" to fix vulnerabilities in IIS, for which exploit code has been publicly released and for which there have been limited attacks, along with Windows CryptoAPI, Windows Indexing Service, Windows Kernel, and Local Security Authority Subsystem Service.

The update for Windows CryptoAPI relates to flaws in the way domain names are verified on the Internet, which could allow attackers to impersonate a site and steal information from unsuspecting Web surfers. The holes were revealed by researchers Dan Kaminsky and Moxie Marlinspike at Defcon in August.

Affected software includes Windows 7; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Windows Vista; Server 2003 and 2008; Office XP, 2003, and 2007; Microsoft Office System; SQL Server 2000 and 2005; Silverlight; Visual Studio .Net 2003; Visual Studio 2005 and 2008; Visual FoxPro 8.0 and 9.0; Microsoft Report Viewer 2005 and 2008; Forefront Client Security 1.0; and Office software including Visio, Project, Word Viewer, and Works.

The installation also removes the Win/FakeScanti Trojan, which displays fake malware warnings and then asks computer users to pay for fake antivirus software.

(For more information and analysis from Symantec, listen to my colleague Larry Magid's podcast.)

Update: This story was updated at 2:15 p.m. PDT with additional comment and at 11:47 a.m. PDT with more details and reaction from experts.

Microsoft on Thursday said it will provide a fix next week for zero-day flaws in Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) and Internet Information Services (IIS) that could allow an attacker to take control of a computer.

Those are just two of the 34 vulnerabilities addressed in 13 bulletins (eight of which are critical and five of which are rated important) that will be fixed during Patch Tuesday, according to a blog post on the announcement. The bulletins affect Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Silverlight, Forefront, Developer Tools, and SQL Server, the advisory shows.

The SMB flaw was reported a month ago. At the time, Microsoft said it affected Vista, Windows Server 2008, and the "release candidate" version of Windows 7, but not the final version that was completed in July. Windows Server 2008 R2 is not vulnerable, and neither are the earlier Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems.

Microsoft, which previously released a temporary fix for the SMB hole, reported the IIS flaw in the File Transfer Protocol in August. Its its advisory says there have been limited attacks that use the IIS flaw exploit code, which was posted on the Milw0rm Web site, according to IDG News Service.

Update 2:56 p.m. PDT: Also on Thursday, Adobe Systems announced that it will release an update Tuesday that will resolve a critical vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.1.3 and earlier on Windows, Macintosh and Unix that has reportedly been exploited in the wild in limited targeted attacks.

"Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.1.3 customers with DEP enabled on Windows Vista are protected from this exploit," Adobe said in an advisory. "Disabling JavaScript also mitigates against this specific exploit, although a variant that does not rely on JavaScript could be possible."

Microsoft issued a formal security advisory late Tuesday on a reported zero-day flaw in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. However, the software maker also said that the flaw does not affect the final version of Windows 7, contrary to earlier reports.

"Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) implementation," Microsoft said in the advisory. "We are not aware of attacks that try to use the reported vulnerabilities or of customer impact at this time."

The flaw could allow an attacker to gain control of a system, although Microsoft said that "most attempts to exploit this vulnerability will cause an affected system to stop responding and restart."

The software maker said it is working with security software partners to provide information that can be used to create protections. Once its investigation is wrapped up, Microsoft said it will take action, which could include releasing a patch during its next monthly cycle or doing an "out-of-band" release, if necessary. Tuesday was Microsoft's monthly release for patches, which included five critical Windows updates addressing eight vulnerabilities.

The software maker said the latest issue affects the "release candidate" version of Windows 7, but not the final version that was completed in July. Also, the recently completed Windows Server 2008 R2 is not vulnerable, Microsoft said, nor are the earlier Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems.

Microsoft is already dealing with a separate, still unpatched flaw reported last week. Attacks have already been seen based on that vulnerability. Microsoft has taken issue with the fact that that flaw, like the latest one, was reported publicly as opposed to being privately disclosed to Microsoft, giving the company time to patch it.