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" The real challenge that the current human existence, which will last to the end of the talk about human security

 

 

 

 

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 beta 1 appear to contain a security flaw that could subject users who visit a malicious Web site or open a malicious e-mail message to arbitrary code.

U.S. CERT has published a vulnerability note indicating Internet Explorer doesn't handle document frames securely.

Document frames can be used to subdivide Web pages such that the content associated with each division comes from a different server or domain. These "iframes," or inline frames, often are used for serving ads, which typically come from a different domain than content that appears on the same Web page.

The problem, as U.S. CERT describes it, is that "Microsoft Internet Explorer fails to properly restrict access to a document's frames, which may allow an attacker to modify the contents of frames in a different domain."

IE includes restrictions that limit the information one frame can get from another, but it appears that certain events, such as the "onmousedown" event, are not associated with a specific domain and thus are not sufficiently restricted.

Secunia, a computer security firm, on Thursday published a security advisory warning that Internet Explorer 7.x is vulnerable to a frame location handling vulnerability. It said that other versions of IE may also be affected.

The U.S. CERT vulnerability note says that Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 beta 1 are vulnerable and that proof-of-concept code has been published.

The proof-of-concept code was first published in May at a Web site maintained by "sirdarckcat." It can be used to hijack an iframe window and capture keystrokes.

According to Bill Sisk, communications manager for Microsoft security response, Microsoft is investigating reports of a possible vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The company is unaware of any attacks trying to use the claimed vulnerability or of customer impact.

 

Microsoft's XP SP3 Patch Fixes Anti-Virus Glitch

 

Microsoft issued a hotfix for Windows XP Service Pack 3 last week that it says "could resolve" a Windows registry corruption problem associated with third-party security software. The problem was first discovered just over a month ago, and it notably affected users of Symantec's Norton Antivirus suite of products.

Some users who installed XP SP3 reported seeing garbled system entries that cluttered the Windows registry. The corruption in the registry led to problems such as lost Internet and wireless connections, along with uninitiated restarts caused by sporadic registry subkeys.

Microsoft provided an explanation for the problem in a Knowledgebase posting on Friday. The issue "occurs when the Fixccs.exe process is called during the Windows XP SP3 installation," the KB article explains. "This process creates some intermediate registry subkeys, and it later deletes these subkeys. In some cases, some antivirus applications may not let the Fixccs.exe process delete these intermediate registry subkeys."

When the problem occurs, "certain applications" within Windows, such as "Device Manager and Network Connections" may be unable to function, Redmond added.

Symantec had responded with its own solution before Microsoft's hotfix. On June 5, the security application and consultancy issued a patch via its LiveUpdate service that prevents the registry corruption from occurring.

Symantec users wanting to upgrade to Windows XP SP3 or Vista SP1 must first run LiveUpdate from within their security software, and then reboot the PC before attempting the upgrade.

You can contact Jabulani about "Microsoft's XP SP3 Patch Fixes Anti-Virus Glitch" at editor@entmag.com.