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Windows And Apple Both Release Security Updates
Bryan Young
Staff Writer
2011-01-13
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It's been a busy week for the two most popular operating systems on the market. Both Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX are being updated to patch security flaws.
 | | Windows and Apple Both Release Security Updates |  |
The Microsoft patches are expressed in MS11-001 and MS11-002. MS11-001 describes a publicly disclosed vulnerability in the Windows Backup Manager which allows remote code execution utilizing a DLL-preloading error. If that library file is "specially crafted" as the Security Bulletin describes it, it can be loaded along with a legitimate Windows Backup Manager file and execute its code. This bulletin only affects the Vista OS, both the 32 and 64 bit versions.
MS11-002 affects all supported versions of Windows, and is much scarier in my personal opinion. There are two vulnerabilities fixed by this security bulletin, a DSN Overflow Vulnerability and an ADO Record Memory Vulnerability. Both of these are holes in Microsoft Data Access Components, and both allow for code execution. Now for the scary part; all you have to do to execute that code is to visit a malicious web site. According to the bulletin, an attacker can "install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights" and all you have to do is visit the site, without downloading anything.
Apple also had some security snafus of its own to clear up, which they did last week with the release of Mac OSX v10.6.6 fixing CVE-2010-4013. Among the other reasons for the update (such as the new Mac App Store), they fixed a potential man-in-the-middle vulnerability that could, according to the article, "cause an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution." The issue lies in how PackageKit handles distribution scripts when Software Update checks for new updates.
About the Author:
Bryan is a staff writer for SecurityProNews
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