Exploit code loose for six-month-old Windows bug
Microsoft Thursday acknowledged that exploit code is circulating for a vulnerability it acknowledged six months ago, but has yet to patch.
It's not clear whether Microsoft intends to fix the flaw next week.
On Thursday, Microsoft revised a security advisory it first posted April 19 about a bug in Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008 that could be exploited to gain additional privileges on vulnerable machines. "Exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by this advisory," confirmed Bill Sisk, a communications manager at Microsoft's Security Response Center in a post to the MSRC blog.
The vulnerability has a convoluted history.
In late March, Argentinean security researcher Cesar Cerrudo announced he had found a bug that could let attackers bypass some of the security schemes in the newest versions of the operating system, including Windows Server 2008. At the time, Sick called Cerrudo's bug a "design flaw" rather than a vulnerability, and downplayed the threat.
Only after Cerrudo presented his findings at a security conference in April in the United Arab Emirates did Microsoft change its tune and call the flaw a security problem.
On Wednesday, Cerrudo posted a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit for the months-old vulnerability. "It has been a long time since [my April] presentation was published so I decided to release a PoC exploit for Windows Server 2003 that allows [you] to execute code under [a] SYSTEM account," Cerrudo said in the description of his exploit on milw0rm.com.
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
On Twitter now
xp
Powered by Twitter
jfruh
Apple syncing patent can't come soon enough
pasmith
New Twitter features borrow from 3rd party clients
Esther Schindler
Open Source Changes the Software Acquisition Process
mikelgan
How to set up continuous podcast play on the new iTunes
David Strom
Five important Windows 7 mobility features
sjvn
Guard your Wi-Fi for your own sake
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Grepping on Whole Words
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.













