Fighting malware and spam

Two fixes released on lightweight Patch Tuesday

Monthly security update covers just couple of dangers.

Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin, with only two patches issued, one rated 'Important' and the other 'critical'.

The more serious flaw, a problem with URI validation, has been publicly disclosed and can be used to remotely compromise a system. While exploitation methods have only been found for Internet Explorer 7, the flaw is in Shell32.dll, a vital system file found on many versions of Windows, and so could expose many users to danger.

The patch labelled 'important' could also present significant dangers, as it could be used to set up DNS spoofing and redirect connections aimed at legitimate sites to spoofed versions, allowing phishing of sensitive data and thus identity fraud and theft. The flaw is in DNS sever software and thus only affects server versions of Windows, and has not so far been publicly divulged.

The bulletin, with more details of the patches and the flaws they cover, is here. A Microsoft blog entry on the release, with information on the re-release of another, less important fix, is here.

14 November 2007

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