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| January 06, 2006 - Current ActivityThis is an archived copy of current activity, if you would like to see the most recent version, please click here.Exploit for Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Metafile Handling added December 28, 2005 | updated January 5, 2006 US-CERT is aware of active exploitation of a vulnerability in how Microsoft Windows handles Windows Metafiles (".wmf"). Several variations of the WMF exploit file have been released that attempt to avoid detection by anti-virus software and intrusion detection and intrusion prevention systems. A Windows system may be compromised through several methods including:
Once the vulnerability is exploited, a remote attacker may be able to perform any of the following malicious activities:
More information about this vulnerability can be found in the following:
Microsoft has released an update to address this vulnerability in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-001. US-CERT strongly encourages users and administrators to apply the appropriate updates as soon as possible. Automatic Update Functionality in Latest Sober Worm Variant added December 7, 2005 | updated January 4, 2006 US-CERT is aware of functionality that could allow the latest Sober mass-mailing worm variants known as "W32/Sober.X", "W32/Sober.Y", and "W32/Sober.Z" to automatically update themselves. These Sober worm variants are dual-language (English and German) mass-mailing worms that utilize a built-in SMTP engine to propagate. There have been over 20 Sober worm variants since October 2003. The latest Sober worm variant has been propagating since November 15, 2005 and will attempt to update itself on January 6, 2006. The latest Sober worm variant may have a global impact due to its use of pseudorandom URLs that are hosted on servers in European countries, such as Germany and Austria. Systems that have already been compromised by the W32/Sober.X, W32/Sober.Y or W32/Sober.Z worm are expected to receive this update. Once the update is received, the Sober worm variant may execute code that reduces the security protection of infected systems. US-CERT strongly recommends that users and administrators implement the following general protection measures:
RIM BlackBerry Vulnerabilities added December 30, 2005 Information about multiple vulnerabilities in RIM BlackBerry products has been presented at the 22nd Chaos Communication Congress. The vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on or cause a denial of service to the BlackBerry Attachment Service. An attacker could also cause a denial of service to the BlackBerry Router or the web browser on BlackBerry Handheld devices. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker would need to supply a crafted file that is viewed or downloaded by a BlackBerry Handheld; or the attacker would need redirect a network connection directed to the BlackBerry Infrastructure. US-CERT recommends that BlackBerry sites upgrade BlackBerry Enterprise Server to the latest version and consult the BlackBerry Technical Knowledge Center for remediation information. For further details please see the related US-CERT Vulnerability Notes. Multiple Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities in Symantec Antivirus Library added December 21, 2005 US-CERT is aware of a third-party report of multiple heap buffer overflows in the Symantec RAR decompression library (Dec2RAR.dll). Using a specially crafted RAR archive, a remote attacker may be able to perform any of the following malicious activities:
More information about this vulnerability can be found in the following US-CERT Vulnerability Note:
Although there is limited information concerning this reported vulnerability, US-CERT encourages users and system administrators to consider filtering or disabling the scanning of RAR archives at email or proxy gateways. However, disabling RAR scanning may compromise the effectiveness of the security product. In addition, blocking RAR archives may prevent legitimate information from entering the network. Malware Exploiting Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator Vulnerability (MS05-051) added October 13, 2005 | updated December 15, 2005 US-CERT is aware of malicious software exploiting a vulnerability in the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC). Successful exploitation could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system. US-CERT is also aware of increased scanning activity on port 1025/tcp, a port commonly used by this service. More information about this vulnerability can be found in the following US-CERT Vulnerability Note:
Microsoft has released an update to address this vulnerability in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-051. US-CERT encourages administrators to apply the appropriate updates as soon as possible. Exploit for Vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer window() object added November 21, 2005 | updated December 14, 2005 US-CERT is aware of a vulnerability in the way Microsoft Internet Explorer handles requests to the window() object. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. Additionally, the attacker could also cause IE (or the program using the WebBrowser control) to crash. According to Microsoft, malicious software is targeting this vulnerability. We have confirmed that the proof-of-concept code is successful on Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems that are fully patched as of November 30, 2005. More information about this vulnerability can be found in the following US-CERT Vulnerability Note:
Microsoft has released an update to address this vulnerability in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-054. US-CERT encourages administrators to apply the appropriate updates, patches, or fixes as soon as possible. Cross Domain Vulnerability in Internet Explorer added December 8, 2005 US-CERT is aware of a cross domain violation in Internet Explorer. This may allow a script in one domain to access web content in a different domain. Web browsers should adhere to the "Same Origin Policy", which prevents documents or scripts loaded from one origin from getting or setting properties of a document from a different origin. Internet Explorer does not follow this policy when importing CSS documents. If the cross-domain violation in Internet Explorer occurs on a system that has Google Desktop Search (GDS) installed, then an attacker may be able to search for private data, execute programs, or execute arbitrary code on this vulnerable system. Note: Google has modified its web pages to prevent exploitation of GDS through this particular vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The cross-domain violation vulnerability in Internet Explorer is still present, however. Although there is limited information concerning this vulnerability, US-CERT encourages users to disable Active scripting to prevent exploitation. Users can also refer to the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog for some additional information on this vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer. Reports of IRS Phishing Emails added November 30, 2005 US-CERT has received reports of a phishing email scam that attempts to convince the user that it is from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by using a spoofed "From" address of "tax-refunds@irs.gov". Upon clicking on the link provided in the email, the user is taken to a fraudulent site that looks like a legitimate U.S. government site. The user is then asked to provide personal information, such as their social security, credit card and bank pin numbers. Users are encouraged to take the following measures to protect themselves from this type of phishing attack:
For additional information on ways to avoid phishing email attacks, US-CERT recommends that all users reference the following: Vulnerability in Cisco PIX added November 23, 2005 | updated November 28, 2005 US-CERT is aware of a publicly-reported vulnerability in the way Cisco PIX firewalls process legitimate TCP connection attempts. A remote attacker may be able to send spoofed, malformed TCP packets with incorrect checksum values through affected PIX firewalls. As a result, legitimate network traffic to the destination may be blocked until the invalid PIX connection-attempt entry times out (around two minutes by default). Public exploit code for this reported vulnerability may be useful for automating a sustained attack. More information about the reported vulnerability can be found in the following US-CERT Vulnerability Note:
Until a patch or more information becomes available, US-CERT recommends that system administrators who may be affected consider reconfiguring certain connection timers on Cisco PIX systems. More workaround information is also available in the solution section of VU#853540. W32/Sober Revisited added November 22, 2005 | updated November 22, 2005 US-CERT is aware of several new variants of the W32/Sober virus that propagate via email. As with many viruses, these variants rely on social engineering to propagate. Specifically, the user must click on a link or open an attached file. A recent variant sends messages that appear to be from the CIA or FBI, while a German version appears to be coming from the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the German Federal police service. US-CERT encourages users to review the appropriate alert below:
These new variants of the W32/Sober virus identified above share common characteristics listed below. Once infected, the malicious code may:
Although each variant has different functionality, the list below contains a subset of the common characteristics found in previous variants. Once a system is infected, the malicious code may:
US-CERT strongly encourages users to install anti-virus software, and keep its virus signature files up-to-date. Additionally, US-CERT strongly encourages users not to follow unknown links, even if sent by a known and trusted source. You may also wish to visit the US-CERT Computer Virus Resources. First 4 Internet XCP (Sony DRM) Vulnerabilities added November 15, 2005 | updated November 18, 2005 US-CERT is aware of several vulnerabilities regarding the XCP Digital Rights Management (DRM) software by First 4 Internet, which is distributed by some Sony BMG audio CDs. The XCP copy protection software uses "rootkit" technology to hide certain files from the user. This technique can pose a security threat, as malware can take advantage of the ability to hide files. We are aware of malware that is currently using this technique to hide. One of the uninstallation options provided by Sony also introduces vulnerabilities to a system. Upon submitting a request to uninstall the DRM software, the user will receive via email a link to a Sony BMG web page. This page will attempt to install an ActiveX control when it is displayed in Internet Explorer. This ActiveX control is marked "Safe for scripting," which means that any web page can utilize the control and its methods. Some of the methods provided by this control are dangerous, as they may allow an attacker to download and execute arbitrary code. More information about this vulnerability can be found in the following US-CERT Vulnerability Note:
US-CERT recommends the following ways to help prevent the installation of this type of rootkit:
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