Microsoft patches Windows 2000 flaw, SQL holes

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/0816mspatch.html

By Sam Costello
IDG News Service, 08/16/02 

Microsoft Thursday released a patch for a vulnerability it called 
"critical" that could allow an attacker to take complete control of 
Windows 2000 systems. The company also released a cumulative patch for 
SQL Sever 7.0 and 2000 that repaired a new security hole.

The first vulnerability exists in the Network Connection Manager (NCM) 
component of Windows 2000, which is used to process and handle network 
connections made by users. The NCM is supposed to run in the user's 
security context, which usually limits what actions a user can take on 
the system. Due to the flaw, however, it can run in the LocalSystem 
context, giving the NCM greater privileges, Microsoft said in its 
security alert.

When the NCM is used, one of its functions is to call on a handler 
routine run by the NCM, Microsoft said. The flaw could allow attackers 
who do not have proper access privileges to create their own handler 
routine and cause the NCM to run it by creating a network connection, 
the company said.

This attack could cause the attacker-supplied code to run with full 
system privileges, giving the attacker control of the machine, 
Microsoft said.

The vulnerability is mitigated, however, because a user usually needs 
to have privileges to log on to the target system in order to be able 
to exploit the flaw, the company said.

More information about the vulnerability, and the patch to fix it, are 
available here [1].

Microsoft Thursday also released a cumulative patch for SQL Server 7.0 
and 2000 that included a fix for a previously undisclosed 
vulnerability.

The vulnerability exists in the Microsoft-supplied stored procedures 
that ship with the software and are used for various helper functions, 
the company said. A flaw in the permissions associated with the 
procedures could allow users without the proper access rights to 
execute the procedures with administrator privileges, the company 
said.

Though Microsoft only rates the flaw as "moderate," an attacker could 
exploit the flaw in order to make database calls they are not 
permitted to make, the company said.

The full cumulative patch, as well as information on the new 
vulnerability, can be found here [2].

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/ms02-042.asp
[2] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-043.asp



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