That's the biggest concern for security experts who worry that a more dangerous attack may soon follow as researchers dig further into the vulnerability.
The bug is particularly troublesome for two reasons. First, it affects a widely used Windows component that is turned on by default. Worse, no user interaction is required to trigger the flaw, meaning that it could be exploited in a self-copying worm attack. Microsoft patched the flaw in its MS update, released last week, but it takes time for enterprise users to test and install Microsoft's patches. The protocols are used by a range of applications including messaging, Web conferencing and software distribution products.
For a worm attack to work, the attacker would have to send specially crafted packets to a victim's machine, which could then allow the attacker to run unauthorized code on the PC. The worm could then spread from computer to computer within a LAN, but would generally be stopped from travelling to another network by a firewall.
A reliable exploit could be combined with malicious botnet software, giving attackers a way to widen the size of their networks of infected computers.
Network Security Scan Download Now. Security researchers Tuesday said they'd discredited Microsoft's claim that the year's first critical Windows vulnerability would be "difficult and unlikely" to be exploited by attackers.
On Tuesday, Immunity Inc. The exploit, which was released to customers of its CANVAS penetration testing software -- but is not available to the public -- was a revised version of code first issued two weeks ago. Here are the latest Insider stories. More Insider Sign Out. Sign In Register. Sign Out Sign In Register. Latest Insider. Check out the latest Insider stories here. More from the IDG Network. New attack proves critical Windows bug 'highly exploitable'.
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