Major Graphics Flaw Threatens Windows PCs

edited September 2004 in Science & Tech
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.
Another one, sheesh... -KF

Source: ZDNet

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    One thing to note: The issue is fixed with Service Pack 2.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited September 2004
    No wonder WindowsXP won't let me use the photo editor from Microsoft Office as the default photo editor anymore, it will only let you use windows paint. (when clicking on edit this photo in the picture viewer)
  • edited September 2004
    Holy crap...that's not good. Time to switch everyone to Firefox.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    I'm not surprised...
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