Unpatched Windows XP Flaw Being Exploited
Summary: A Windows XP and Server 2003 flaw in the Microsoft Help & Support Center, disclosed a week earlier by Google researcher Tavis Ormandy, was reported by Sophos to be under active exploitation by malicious and hacked Web sites. Until Microsoft issued an official fix, the suggested workaround was to disable the vulnerable Help & Support Center component, with Microsoft later adding a FixIt tool.
Bottom line: The exploit arrived before any official patch, leaving every unpatched XP system exposed to malware from a visited Web site, and the workaround itself proved imperfect - one user reported the FixIt left the HCP registry key in place and another reported an XP system that would not boot after applying it.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Zero-Days & Exploits
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