March '10 Patch Tuesday: 2 Security Bulletins, 8 Vulnerabilities
This is a heads up notification for all Microsoft customers out there that want to stay safe and protected. As part of the Patch Tuesday program (updates are released every second Tuesday of the month) the Redmond-based software giant will release 2 security bulletins on the 9th of March. These security bulletins address vulnerabilities that plague the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office productivity suite.
“Today we are providing advance notification to customers that we will be releasing two bulletins this month,” announced Senior Security Communications Manager Lead, Jerry Bryant. “Both bulletins are rated Important and address a total of 8 vulnerabilities. We recommend that customers review the Advance Notification webpage and prepare to deploy these bulletins as soon as possible. To provide additional guidance for deployment prioritization, customers should note that both bulletins will address issues that would require a user to open a specially crafted file. There are no network based attack vectors.”
At the start of the week, a proof of concept that shows how arbitrary code can be run on a targeted machine by using VBScript in an .HLP file has been publicly posted. A person with malicious intent could lure an unsuspecting user to a specially crafted webpage; once on the webpage, if that user is pushed into pressing F1, it could lead to remote code execution.
Microsoft’s Jerry Bryant made sure to emphasize that the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) team is well aware of this vulnerability. The vulnerability (which Microsoft says is not currently being actively exploited in the wild) will not be addressed this Patch Tuesday. Microsoft is keeping a close eye on it though.
“We’re also continuing to monitor the situation with Security Advisory 981169, the VBScript issue disclosed on Monday. There are no known attacks but we encourage customers to review the advisory and apply the suggested workarounds where possible. Customers that are running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Vista are not affected,” added Jerry Bryant.
“Today we are providing advance notification to customers that we will be releasing two bulletins this month,” announced Senior Security Communications Manager Lead, Jerry Bryant. “Both bulletins are rated Important and address a total of 8 vulnerabilities. We recommend that customers review the Advance Notification webpage and prepare to deploy these bulletins as soon as possible. To provide additional guidance for deployment prioritization, customers should note that both bulletins will address issues that would require a user to open a specially crafted file. There are no network based attack vectors.”
At the start of the week, a proof of concept that shows how arbitrary code can be run on a targeted machine by using VBScript in an .HLP file has been publicly posted. A person with malicious intent could lure an unsuspecting user to a specially crafted webpage; once on the webpage, if that user is pushed into pressing F1, it could lead to remote code execution.
Microsoft’s Jerry Bryant made sure to emphasize that the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) team is well aware of this vulnerability. The vulnerability (which Microsoft says is not currently being actively exploited in the wild) will not be addressed this Patch Tuesday. Microsoft is keeping a close eye on it though.
“We’re also continuing to monitor the situation with Security Advisory 981169, the VBScript issue disclosed on Monday. There are no known attacks but we encourage customers to review the advisory and apply the suggested workarounds where possible. Customers that are running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Vista are not affected,” added Jerry Bryant.
