January '11 Patch Tuesday Detailed

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 12 Jan 2011

The first patch Tuesday of the year, which was rolled out the other day, on the 11th of January, was an unimpressive one. Microsoft rolled out only two security bulletins – one rated important and the other rated critical – meant to address a grand total of three vulnerabilities that plague the Windows operating system.

That's pretty much all we knew until now. But now that the two aforementioned security bulletins have been rolled out, Microsoft released additional information about them to the public.
Here’s what Microsoft made public:

MS11-001
Title: Vulnerability in Windows Backup Manager Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Rating: Important
Description: A publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows Backup Manager. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a legitimate Windows Backup Manager file that is located in the same network directory as a specially crafted library file. For an attack to be successful, a user must visit an untrusted remote file system location or WebDAV share and open the legitimate file from that location, which in turn could cause Windows Backup Manager to load the specially crafted library file.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 2
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1
  • Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

MS11-002
Title: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Data Access Components Could Allow Remote Code Execution
Rating: Critical
Description: Two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Data Access Components. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user.
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 and 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
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

Proof-of-concept code or active attacks trying to exploit the vulnerabilities the January 2011 Patch Tuesday addresses have not been detected, announced Carlene Chmaj, Senior Response Communications Manager, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing.

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






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