PENN STATERS URGED TO APPLY NEW MICROSOFT SECURITY PATCH
January 12, 2006Penn State Information Technology Services (ITS) has announced that an important security patch was issued by Microsoft on Jan. 5 for the following Windows products:
Windows XP,
Windows 2003 and
Windows 2000 (SP4).
This patch addresses a Windows Metafile (WMF) vulnerability identified in late December. Both Microsoft and the University urge all affected computer users to apply the patch immediately. The patch addresses a defect in the software that allows images to be viewed in Windows. The vulnerability is such that full control over a computer could be achieved by a remote intruder — for any purpose. A computer that is not patched can become infected if the user is tricked into viewing a malicious image, or automatically without the user’s knowledge when he or she is viewing/previewing certain image files (depending on the browser/viewer in use). Active exploits that target the vulnerability have occurred worldwide and some instances have been identified at Penn State.
Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/15394
