Patch Tuesday Analysis for May 2008
Welcome to Patch Tuesday! This month there are just four Security Bulletins. Three involve Office products and therefore our primary focus for those is on workstations.
However, pay particular attention to the third one, MS08-028. It’s presently being exploited. So disable the Jet Database component (if you don’t need it…) either by group policy or otherwise, especially on servers. Check your version of Jet Database since it only affects older ones. Note that hole can be exploited in other file types besides just MDB files; for instance Word documents can be crafted that exploit this vulnerability. The Outlook attack vector vulnerability can be mitigated by setting the client to read in text only. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/831607 on how to view all messages in plain text. Yeah, I know, it’s boring. Personally I can do without the dancing icons if it means I miss the ‘excitement’ of cleaning up a compromised workstation. On second thought, why not disable everything you don’t need?
The Malware Protection Engine MS08-029 is also interesting. It must be embarrassing for Microsoft when their security products introduce security vulnerabilities. If you’re using Microsoft’s product to guard your henhouse, then by all means keep it up-to-date! Check out my chart of all 4 below.
| Bulletin | Exploit Types
/Technologies Affected | System Types Affected | Exploit
details public?
/ Being exploited? | Comprehensive,
practical
workaround
available? | MS severity rating | Products Affected | Notes | Randy's recommendation | MS08-028
950749 | Arbitrary code
/ Windows | Workstations
Terminal Servers
Servers
| Yes/Yes | Yes | Critical | XP
Server 2003
| Jet Database Component; Patch may require restart | Apply workarounds, Test and Patch ASAP. | MS08-026
951207 | Arbitrary code
/ Office | Workstations
Terminal Servers
| No/No | No | Critical | Office 2000
Office XP
Office 2003
Office 2007
Word Viewer
Office 2004 for Mac
Office 2008 for Mac
Comp. Pack for Office 2007
| Word Component | Patch after testing | MS08-027
951208 | Arbitrary code
/ Office | Workstations
Terminal Servers
| No/No | No | Critical | Office 2000
Office XP
Office 2003
Office 2007
| Publisher Component | Patch after testing | MS08-029
952044 | Denial of service
/ Live OneCare, Antigen, Defender, Forefront | Workstations
Terminal Servers
Servers
| No/No | No | Moderate | XP
Vista
| Microsoft Malware Protection Engine | Update if you’re using this product. |
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