Microsoft mulls early IE patch release

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+mulls+early+IE+patch+release/2100-1002_3-6119393.html

By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 25, 2006

Microsoft may offer an Internet Explorer security update before its next 
official Patch Tuesday.

The update is being designed to fix a serious flaw in the way the widely 
used Web browser handles certain graphics files. The flaw, first 
reported last week, is increasingly being used in attacks on IE users, 
security experts warned Monday.

"We have been working nonstop on an update," a Microsoft representative 
wrote on a corporate blog Friday. The patch is being tested now, and if 
it is done before Microsoft's next scheduled patch release day on Oct. 
10, the company will release it, the representative wrote.

Attacks that exploit the flaw have been broadening and now also use 
e-mail as a way to lure people to malicious Web sites, security company 
Websense said Monday. "We are starting to see mass mailing lures for Web 
sites that are hosting...exploit code," Websense said.

In one example, cybercrooks have adapted a scam that uses e-cards to 
also take advantage of this latest IE flaw. The scam involves e-mail 
messages that at first glance appear to be greeting cards, but clicking 
on the link to view the card sends the target to a malicious Web site 
that tries to silently install keystroke-logging software.

The vulnerability lies in a Windows component called "vgx.dll." This 
component is meant to support Vector Markup Language documents in the 
operating system. VML is used for high-quality vector graphics on the 
Web.

The IE flaw allows malicious software to be loaded onto a Windows PC 
unbeknownst to the user after clicking on a malicious link on a Web site 
or an e-mail message. Microsoft has also been monitoring the threat, but 
contrary to many security groups it has not seen widespread attacks. 
"Attacks remain limited," the Microsoft representative wrote.

While Microsoft works on the IE update, security company PatchLink on 
Monday said it has produced an unofficial fix for its customers. The 
PatchLink fix is the second third-party patch for the flaw. Microsoft 
does not recommend third-party fixes since they have not gone through 
the company's testing process.

Microsoft typically releases fixes each second Tuesday of the month, 
which has become known as Patch Tuesday. The last time the software 
maker rushed out a fix was in January, when another image-related flaw 
in IE was being used to compromise Windows PCs through malicious Web 
sites.

As attention focuses on the VML flaw, spyware specialist Sunbelt 
Software warned on Monday that another yet-to-be-patched IE flaw is now 
also being used by miscreants to load malicious software onto Windows 
PCs. This flaw is related to daxctle.ocx, an ActiveX control for 
multimedia features.

Microsoft provides work-arounds that protect against each of the IE 
flaws on its Web site. The software maker also recommends users keep 
their security software updated and take caution when browsing the Web.


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