From secnotif@MICROSOFT.COM Tue Feb 23 07:22:05 1999 From: Microsoft Product Security To: MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:08:01 -0800 Subject: Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-007) The following is a Security Bulletin from the Microsoft Product Security Notification Service. Please do not reply to this message, as it was sent from an unattended mailbox. ******************************** Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-007) -------------------------------------- Patch Available for Taskpads Scripting Vulnerability Originally Posted: February 22, 1999 Summary ======= Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in the Taskpads feature, which is provided as part of the Microsoft(r) Windows(r) 98 Resource Kit, Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler, and BackOffice(r) Resource Kit, second edition. The vulnerability could allow a malicious web site operator to run executables on the computer of a visiting user. Only customers who have installed one of the affected products and who surf the web using the machine on which it is installed are at risk from this vulnerability. A fully supported patch is available to remove the Taskpads functionality, and Microsoft recommends that affected customers download and install it. Issue ===== Taskpads is a feature provided by several Microsoft Windows Resource Kit products, as detailed below in Affected Software Versions. It is part of the Resource Kits' Tools Management Console Snap-in, and allows users to view and run Resource Kit Tools via an HTML page rather than through the standard Large Icon, Small, Icon, List, and Detailed Views. A vulnerability exists because certain methods provided by Taskpads are incorrectly marked as "safe for scripting" and can be misused by a web site operator to invoke executables on a visiting user's workstation without their knowledge or permission. The affected products are, by default, not installed on Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NTŪ. The Windows 98 Resource Kit and Resource Kit Sampler can only be installed on Windows 98. The BackOffice Resource Kit can be installed on Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT, but is most commonly installed on Windows NT servers, which, per recommended security practices, usually will not be used for web surfing. While there have not been any reports of customers being adversely affected by these problems, Microsoft is releasing a patch to proactively address this issue. The patch for this issue works by removing the Taskpads functionality, which is rarely used. It does not affect any other features of the affected products. Affected Software Versions ========================== - Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit, Microsoft Windows 98 - Resource Kit Sampler (included as part of Windows 98 but not installed by default) - Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit, second edition What Microsoft is Doing ======================= Microsoft has released patches that fix the problem identified. The patches are available for download from the sites listed below in What Customers Should Do. Microsoft also has sent this security bulletin to customers subscribing to the Microsoft Product Security Notification Service. See (http://www.microsoft.com/security/services/bulletin.asp) for more information about this free customer service. Microsoft has published the following Knowledge Base (KB) article on this issue: - Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q218619, Taskpads Lets Web Sites Invoke Executables from a User's Computer. http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q218/6/19.ASP (Note: It might take 24 hours from the original posting of this bulletin for the KB article to be visible in the Web-based Knowledge Base.) What Customers Should Do ======================== Microsoft highly recommends that all affected customers download the appropriate patch to protect their computers. The patches can be found at: - Windows 98 Resource Kit, Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler, and BackOffice, second Edition for Windows 95 and 98 ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/win98/taskpads/tmcpatch.exe - Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit, second edition for Windows NT x86 version: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/nt4/x86/ taskpads/itmcpatch.exe Alpha version: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/nt4/ alpha/taskpads/atmcpatch.exe (Note: URLs have been word-wrapped) More Information ================ Please see the following references for more information related to this issue. - Microsoft Security Bulletin MS99-007, Patch Available for Taskpads Scripting Vulnerability (the Web-posted version of this bulletin), http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-007.asp. - Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q218619, Taskpads Lets Web Sites Invoke Executables from a User's Computer. http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q218/6/19.ASP (Note: It might take 24 hours from the original posting of this bulletin for the KB article to be visible in the Web-based Knowledge Base.) Obtaining Support on this Issue =============================== If you require technical assistance with this issue, please contact Microsoft Technical Support. For information on contacting Microsoft Technical Support, please see http://support.microsoft.com/support/contact/default.asp. Acknowledgments =============== Microsoft would like to acknowledge Adrian O'Neill for discovering this issue and bringing it to our attention. Revisions ========= - February 22, 1999: Bulletin Created For additional security-related information about Microsoft products, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security ------------------------------------------------------------ THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. (c) 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. ******************************************************************* You have received this e-mail bulletin as a result of your registration to the Microsoft Product Security Notification Service. You may unsubscribe from this e-mail notification service at any time by sending an e-mail to MICROSOFT_SECURITY-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM The subject line and message body are not used in processing the request, and can be anything you like. For more information on the Microsoft Security Notification Service please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletin.htm. For security-related information about Microsoft products, please visit the Microsoft Security Advisor web site at http://www.microsoft.com/security.