Tech Flash - Microsoft Security Bulletin 2011 MS Patches

MS11-038

Vulnerability in OLE Automation Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2476490)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Automation. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user visits a Web site containing a specially crafted Windows Metafile (WMF) image. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit such a Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit a malicious Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or Instant Messenger request.

Critical
Remote Code Execution

MS11-040

Vulnerability in Threat Management Gateway Firewall Client Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2520426)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 Client, formerly named the Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway Firewall Client. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an attacker leveraged a client computer to make specific requests on a system where the TMG firewall client is used.

Critical
Remote Code Execution

MS11-042

Vulnerabilities in Distributed File System Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2535512)

This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS). The more severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution when an attacker sends a specially crafted DFS response to a client-initiated DFS request. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code and take complete control of an affected system. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect networks from attacks that originate outside the enterprise perimeter. Best practices recommend that systems that are connected to the Internet have a minimal number of ports exposed.

Critical
Remote Code Execution

MS11-044

Vulnerability in .NET Framework Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2538814)

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution on a client system if a user views a specially crafted Web page using a Web browser that can run XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs). Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. The vulnerability could also allow remote code execution on a server system running IIS, if that server allows processing ASP.NET pages and an attacker succeeds in uploading a specially crafted ASP.NET page to that server and then executes the page, as could be the case in a Web hosting scenario. This vulnerability could also be used by Windows .NET applications to bypass Code Access Security (CAS) restrictions.

Critical
Remote Code Execution

MS11-052

Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2544521)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Microsoft implementation of Vector Markup Language (VML). This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8 on Windows clients; and Moderate for Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8 on Windows servers. Internet Explorer 9 is not affected by the vulnerability.

The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Critical
Remote Code Execution

MS11-045

Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2537146)

This security update resolves eight privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Installing and configuring Office File Validation (OFV) to prevent the opening of suspicious files blocks the attack vectors for exploiting the vulnerabilities described in CVE-2011-1272, CVE-2011-1273, and CVE-2011-1279. Microsoft Excel 2010 is only affected by CVE-2011-1273 described in this bulletin. The automated Microsoft Fix it solution, "Disable Edit in Protected View for Excel 2010," available in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 2501584, blocks the attack vectors for exploiting CVE-2011-1273.

Important
Remote Code Execution

MS11-047

Vulnerability in Hyper-V Could Allow Denial of Service (2525835)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. The vulnerability could allow denial of service if a specially crafted packet is sent to the VMBus by an authenticated user in one of the guest virtual machines hosted by the Hyper-V server. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to send specially crafted content from a guest virtual machine to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users.

Important
Denial of Service

MS11-049

Vulnerability in the Microsoft XML Editor Could Allow Information Disclosure (2543893)

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft XML Editor. The vulnerability could allow information disclosure if a user opened a specially crafted Web Service Discovery (.disco) file with one of the affected software listed in this bulletin. Note that this vulnerability would not allow an attacker to execute code or to elevate their user rights directly, but it could be used to produce information that could be used to try to further compromise the affected system.

Important
Information Disclosure