From alerts@us-cert.gov Tue Sep 14 21:57:44 2004 From: US-CERT Alerts To: alerts@us-cert.gov Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 19:19:01 -0400 Subject: US-CERT Cyber Security Alert SA04-258A -- Vulnerability in Microsoft Image Processing Component -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Cyber Security Alert SA04-258A Vulnerability in Microsoft Image Processing Component Original release date: September 14, 2004 Last revised: -- Source: US-CERT Systems Affected * Applications that process JPEG images on Microsoft Windows, including but not limited to * Internet Explorer * Microsoft Office * Microsoft Visual Studio * Picture It! * Applications from other vendors besides Microsoft Overview An attacker may be able to gain control of your computer by taking advantage of the way some programs process the JPEG image format. Solution Apply a patch Microsoft has issued updates to address the problem. Obtain the appropriate update from Windows Update and from Office Update. Note: You may need to install multiple patches depending what software you have on your computer. Use caution with email attachments Never open unexpected email attachments. Before opening an attachment, save it to a disk and scan it with anti-virus software. Make sure to turn off the option to automatically download attachments. View email messages in plain text Email programs like Outlook and Outlook Express interpret HTML code the same way that Internet Explorer does. Attackers may be able to take advantage of that by sending malicious HTML-formatted email messages. Maintain updated anti-virus software It is important that you use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Most anti-virus software vendors frequently release updated information, tools, or virus databases to help detect and recover from virus infections. Many anti-virus packages support automatic updates of virus definitions. US-CERT recommends using these automatic updates when possible. Description Microsoft Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI+) is used to display information on screens and printers, including JPEG image files. An attacker could execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system if the user opens a malicious JPEG file via applications such as a web browser, email program, internet chat program, or via email attachment. Any application that uses GDI+ to process JPEG image files is vulnerable to this type of attack. This vulnerability also affects products from companies other than Microsoft. References * September 2004 Security Update for JPEG Processing (GDI+) - * US-CERT Vulnerability Note VU#297462 - _________________________________________________________________ Author: Mindi McDowell. Feedback can be directed to US-CERT, at "US-CERT Security Alerts" at . Please include the Subject line "SA04-258A Feedback VU#297462". _________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2004 Carnegie Mellon University. Terms of use: This document is available from Revision History September 14, 2004: Initial release -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFBR3B1XlvNRxAkFWARAtRbAJ9FRO0XqiiEMNjjwGoTBpox2wJqWgCg1YzJ 8JEt8xDHp6Gm5LXjI8y0uOU= =ehyf -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----