Another New "Critical" Flaw Found In Pre-XP Windows

by , 8:00 AM EST, November 21st, 2002

A new vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser has been found, and it's technically being described as a "doozy." C|Net is reporting that Foundstone, a security company, found a flaw that could affect millions of PCs running pre-XP versions of Microsoft's Windows OS, including Windows 2000. From the C|Net article titled Millions vulnerable to Microsoft Web flaw:

The vulnerability, found by security company Foundstone and confirmed by Microsoft, could allow an Internet attacker to take over a Web server, spread an e-mail virus or create a fast-spreading network worm.

"There are millions of systems and clients that will be affected by this," said George Kurtz, chief executive of Foundstone. "This is huge." Foundstone originally discovered the flaw and worked with Microsoft to develop a patch.

The flaw, in a component of Windows that allows Web servers and browsers to communicate with online databases, could be as widespread as the flaws that allowed the Code Red and Nimda worms to spread, said Kurtz. It likely affects the majority of the more than 4.1 million sites hosted on Microsoft's Internet Information Service (IIS) software. In addition, millions of Windows 95, 98, Me and 2000 PCs could also be vulnerable to the software bug.

Microsoft rated the flaw as critical under its new vulnerability evaluation system that is intended to lessen the number of flaws that receive a "critical" rating to help administrators identify the most important vulnerabilities to patch.

[...]

Windows computers, except those running Windows XP, are also vulnerable if Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 and 6 are present, as they also use the data access component. However, attacks on such systems are harder to accomplish, Terwoerds said. Outlook Express 6 and Outlook 2000 are immune to attack in their default configurations, and other versions of the mail client can be made safe by using the Outlook E-mail Security Update, she said.

The article goes to say that Microsoft has posted a security warming along with instruction on how to secure servers that could be affected. More information is available in the full article and, if you own or manage Windows based PCs, we suggest that you take a read.

The Mac Observer Spin:

The question on many minds is "When will this stop?" This news comes only days after Microsoft took issue with a report from a U.K. security company, Mi2g Ltd. that said that the various forms of Windows was less secure than UNIX or Apple's Mac OS. Microsoft, of course, said that the report was unfair, for a variety of reasons, yet here we are with YAWSP (Yet Another Windows Security Problem). How's the egg on your face, Big Redmond?

True enough, as MS claims, the many flavors of Windows do get a better workout than Apple's OS variants due to sheer market share, and more flaws will be found, but, geez-Louise! You'd think that if so many people are 'testing' Microsoft's OSes for so many years, most of the serious bugs would have been found by now. Win2k, for instance, should be rock solid by now. Yet, it seems that you only need to wait a week or two before someone else pokes his finger through hidden holes in Microsoft's software.

Someone should tell Big Redmond that this is not the way to win friends and influence people who may be deciding on whether to stay with Windows or jump through to a new OS. With Mac OS X being an easy alternative to switch to, Microsoft may start seeing its market share shaved a bit, just a hair.

Millions vulnerable to Microsoft Web flaw