New Windows 7 faults

Microsoft has launched security advisories on two efforts that affect its newest operating system, Windows 7. One defect could let hackers carry out code remotely, the other could let them send a system into a crash spiral. The tapped code has been published on the Web. No fixes controlled in Microsoft’s latest Patch, which was issued less than a week ago, aimed at new Windows 7. Windows 7, which was publicly launched on Oct. 22, has been hit by at least two security defects.

One of these lets hackers run code remotely the other lets them activate an infinite loop remotely, causing a kernel crash. SMB, or Server Message Block, is a Microsoft file-sharing protocol used in Windows. It is mostly used with the NetBIOS transport protocol over TCP/IP. SMBv2 is a major rewrite of the SMB protocol, using different packet formats from SMBv1 and adding many improvements. Microsoft posted Security Advisory 977544 on Nov. 13, which stated the firm is investigating reports of a possible denial of service fault in the SMB protocol. The vulnerability affects Windows 7 executing on 32-bit and x64-based systems, and Windows Server 2008 R2 running on x64-based and Intel Itanium-based systems. The vulnerability may be used through Web transactions using any browser, the security advisory stated.

However, hackers cannot use the vulnerability to take control of or install malicious software on a user’s system, the advisory noted. Microsoft is growing a security update to address this vulnerability, although it rejected comment on how critical this defect is. This effort is more of a nuisance than anything else. It involves tricking an end user to click on a link to a server with a poisonous configuration, and it only locks up one machine. An assaulter who goes through the trouble of tricking users to click on a link will use an exploit that permits him to control the target machine after execution.

Someone also pointed to a National Vulnerability Database listing of a tap in the kernel that permits remote SMB servers cause a denial of service in computers executing Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. This attack comes through an SMBv1 or SMBv2 port containing a NetBIOS header with an incorrect length value, the listing stated. The kernel fault is under review for inclusion in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) section of the National Vulnerability Database.

It was detected that both defects while working on other issues with Microsoft and other vendors, launched the information to make sure Microsoft admits security issues and patch the flaws as soon as possible and with transparency. This bug can be activated from outside a user’s local area network by hackers using Internet Explorer. The bug is so noob, it should have been spotted two years ago by the SDL if the SDL had ever existed.

SDL is the Security Development Lifecycle, it is part of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Initiative. The SDL is useful, and gives more secure software to users, but in this case it failed, as Microsoft likely centred way too much on Internet Explorer and the Office suite, and critical services execute with kernel privileges such as SMB are not well covered by this process. Software development is a process, it’s impossible to completely avoid all exposures while software development. Microsoft’s SDL process is specified to lower the number of vulnerabilities in software as well as reduce the severity and affect of the ones that occur.

Antivirus Support