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Report: Major Windows security update foiled | |
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| Time: 00:00 EST/05:00 GMT | News Source: CNET | Posted By: Chris Hedlund | ||
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A Russian security company claims it found a way to beat a security measure in Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2, a major update aimed at securing customers' PCs. The SP2 measure, known as Data Execution Protection, is intended to prevent would-be attackers from inserting rogue code into a PC's memory and tricking Windows into running the program. However, in a paper published Friday, Moscow-based Positive Technologies said two minor mistakes in the implementation of the technology allow a knowledgeable programmer to sidestep the protection. The company notified Microsoft of the problem Dec. 22, but it apparently decided not to wait for the software giant to patch the flaws. | ||
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| #1 By 6859 (206.156.242.39) at 1/31/2005 9:54:15 AM |
| They chose to not let MS patch it before releaseing to the wild. Nice. Hope these guys get attacked by rebels or something. |
| #2 By 16451 (67.131.75.3) at 1/31/2005 4:33:22 PM |
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" They chose to not let MS patch it before releaseing to the wild"
No, they chose to create and distribute their own [temporary] fix to the vulnerability. |
| #3 By 12071 (203.185.215.149) at 1/31/2005 10:11:53 PM |
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#1 They "notified Microsoft of the problem Dec. 22", then they gave them a month to fix the problem before letting the general public know about the problem so that the general public can be made aware of the problem and perhaps take steps to protect themselves in the mean time whilst they wait for Microsoft to release a patch. Perhaps they should have given Microsoft more time, but it's not as if they published the full details before letting Microsoft know about it (which they could have done!).
#2 You're right! We should hide all these vulnerabilities from the public so that Microsoft doesn't get a bad rap - the poor bastards! Try learning what security is before you start blaming security companies for Microsoft's mistakes! |
| #4 By 12071 (203.185.215.149) at 2/1/2005 10:53:24 PM |
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#5 - lllustration :-
Let's say that easy method of getting into the lock involves using the lid of a Bic pen. Now your house, your parents house, your grandparents house and all your friends houses are protected by this brand-name company's lock. Would you want to know that anyone with a Bic pen lid can get into your house so that you can either ask said brand-name company for a replacement or so that in the meantime you can call a locksmith to replace the lock with a more secure one? No of course not! You'd much rather that information be kept secret so that we don't give brand-name company a bad rep! What a joke! "Is it really a "mistake" on MS' part if a security hole is found?" YES!! And it is THEIR resposnsibility to provide a timely fix! No-one is saying to provide a 100% secure OS, but try your hardest to do so, and when there's a known hole... patch it in a timely manner! |
| #5 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 2/2/2005 2:12:38 AM |
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Ok - so "if" memory locking and unlocking points are a) known, b) consistent and c) there is also an unchecked buffer associated with it/them, then non-systems files not protected by DEP could be exploited. It sounds a great deal like the firm wrote an application with these flaws and then tested to see whether DEP would prevent arbitrary code from being written to the unchecked space.... Ok, so that would be true of any program in any OS - provided the above conditions were all true.
Now, considering that MS's approach is far more sophisticated these days - e.g., layered and not dependent upon any one solution or even any one set of solutions - for example FastCode checks of all source code specifically looking for unchecked buffers and defined memory locking points, it sure seems less of an issue that the article suggests. Machine checks are also applied and the old hacks to make the products work with older generations of first, second and third party applications have also been changed - for example, how Maya's rendering product has had its memory locks modified to avoid such possibilities. I wonder about these articles and whether they intend to inform, or confuse - do people really understand DEP, DEP with zero execute, DEP opposite apps and or sys files.... etc... - much less memory locking and unlocking...if they don't cool, but care should be taken to help people make informed decisions about what is or isn't actually an issue - or whether SP2 is or is not as complete as thought. It was/is only one set of layers - many in fact and many more to come which allow the Sw to work with and be aware of the HW and the state each is in. |
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