February '11 Patch Tuesday Detailed

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 10 Feb 2011

Last week Redmond-based software giant Microsoft gave users a heads up and told them that it will roll out 12 security bulletins as part of the Path Tuesday program (patches are released every second Tuesday of the month).

Microsoft explained at the time that the 12 security bulletins are meant to address a grand total of 22 vulnerabilities that plague the Windows operating system, the Internet Explorer web browser, the Office productivity suite, the Visual Studio integrated development environment, and IIS (Internet Information Services).

Microsoft also explained that out of the 12 security bulletins released as part of the February 2011 Patch Tuesday, 3 are rated as critical while the remaining 9 are rated as important.

To put things in perspective, the critical rating refers to vulnerabilities whose exploitation could allow the propagation of an Internet worm without user action. Without any further ado, here are the details Microsoft made public:

MS11-003
Title: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
Description: Two privately reported vulnerabilities and two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer or if a user opens a legitimate HTML file that loads a specially crafted library file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user.
Most likely attack vector: Victim browses to a malicious webpage.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer
  • Internet Explorer 6 Windows XP Service Pack 3
  • Internet Explorer 6 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 6 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 6 Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 6 Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows XP Service Pack 3
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1 and 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 7 Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows XP Service Pack 3
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1 and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems
  • Internet Explorer 8 Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

MS11-006
Title: Vulnerability in Windows Shell Graphics Processing Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Description: A publicly disclosed vulnerability in the Windows Shell graphics processor. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted thumbnail image. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user.
Most likely attack vector: Victim browses to a malicious SMB or WebDAV share that contains a file with a malicious thumbnail image.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows
  • Windows XP Service Pack 3
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 2
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

MS11-007
Title: Vulnerability in the OpenType Compact Font Format (CFF) Driver Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Description: a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows OpenType Compact Font Format (CFF) driver. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted CFF font. In all cases, an attacker would have no way to force users to view the specially crafted content. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit a Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site.
Most likely attack vector: Victim using explorer.exe browses to a folder containing a malicious OTF file.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows
  • Windows XP Service Pack 3
  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 2
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
  • Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
  • Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems

For additional information on the remaining security bulletins released as part of the February 2011 Patch Tuesday, go here, here and here.

The Microsoft Security Response Center ( MSRC ) has provided these visual representations of the February 2011 Patch Tuesday.







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