ISC's Computing Resource Center
Windows Metafile Vulnerability (January 2006)
During the week of 12/26, Microsoft announced a vulnerability that is prevalent in all of its operating systems. The Windows Meta File vulnerability could let an attacker take control of your Internet-connected computer. Details for protecting your computer now and after the official Microsoft patch is released appear below.
What this means
Any computer running a Microsoft operating system is vulnerable to attack via malicious code embedded in image files including, but not limited to.gif, .tiff, and .jpg. Code can be executed simply by viewing the image. In most cases, a user doesn't need to click anything. Even images stored on a system may cause the exploit to be triggered if they are indexed by some indexing software. Viewing a directory in Windows Explorer with 'Icon size' images will cause the exploit to be triggered as well.
How your machine can become compromised
There are countless ways your machine could become compromised since there are so many methods for enabling your computer to open image files. You may receive a malicious image file via email. You may receive an invitation to view a bogus web site via email or Instant Messenger. You may even inadvertently download a malicious file via programs like Kazaa and LimeWire.
What you can do to protect your computer
If you are subscribed to SUS, the official Microsoft patch will be downloaded and installed for you automatically, once it is released on January 5th. However, to ensure your system is patched, you should run Windows Update on or after 5:00 PM EST on Thursday January 5th.
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