Microsoft to fix malware hijack vulnerability on the fly
Monday, September 21, 2009
A serious security flaw in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and preliminary release versions of Windows 7 can be immediately fixed only by disabling certain Windows functionality, says Microsoft.
A printer- and file-sharing protocol known as Server Message Block (SMB) 2 is vulnerable to remote attacks, which could lead to either computer crashes or effect takeovers of the host machine. The fix, available on Microsoft's website, eliminates the vulnerability by simply shutting down the SMB 2 protocol. Disabling SMB 2 can affect the associated file- and print-sharing connections on vulnerable computers.
The exploit was discovered by Miami Beach tech security firm Immunity, and confirmed on Friday by Microsoft officials. Security professionals say that the vulnerability is susceptible to a worm.
Experts agree that the exploit code is due to be released to the general public sooner, rather than later. Microsoft is looking to release an emergency patch for the issue as soon as possible. Jonathan Ness of the Microsoft Security Response Center told ZDNet that "[t]he product team has built packages and are hard-at-work testing now to ensure quality."
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