Microsoft have released a software tool to protect PCs against a critical class of vulnerabilities present in more than 100 applications from a variety of companies.

The Fixit only woks on machines that have installed the workaround published by Microsoft last week. The Fixit is intended to make the previous work around easier to use. Allowing the fine tuning of a number of settings that will ensure compatibility with applications.

The DLL hijacking threat derives from Windows default behaviour when loading dynamic link library files for applications running on top of the OS. If an attacker can set the current working directory to one controlled by them, it’s then possible for them to force the OS to run a malicious file. Applications that have been identified as being vulnerable include Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, PowerPoint, Outlook 2002, Opera and Nvidia graphics hardware.

Mozilla have not yet commented on the situation, nor have Microsoft confirmed which of it’s application are vulnerable.

Jonathan Ness and Maarten Van Horenbeeck of MSRC have confirmed that the vulnerability doesn’t allow drive by attacks via malicious websites, but is nonetheless a real threat. Particularly for those working with Windows file sharing and other advanced networking options. The pair wrote:

“Unfortunately, based on attack patterns we have seen in recent years, we believe it is no longer safe to browse to a malicious, untrusted WebDAV server in the Internet Zone and double-click on any type of files. We recommend users only double-click on file icons from WebDAV shares known to be trusted, safe, and not under the control of a malicious attacker.”

A mega “Patch Tuesday” has been announced by Microsoft. The update is a record breaker and will deliver 14 security bulletins which will fix 34 vulnerabilities in Windows, IE, Office and Silverlight. The last time this volume of vulnerabilities was addressed was in June 2010, but only 10 bulletins were released.

8 of the 14 bulletins have been classed as “Critical”, and the other 6 as “Important”. The patches are to address remote code executions (RCE) and elevation of privileges.

The patches will address flaws in the following:

• Windows XP Service Pack 2 & 3 *
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 & 2
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
• Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
• Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Office for Mac 2004 & 2008
• Open XML File Format Converter for Mac
• Microsoft Office Word Viewer
• Microsoft Office compatibility pack for Word, Excel & PowerPoint 2007
• Microsoft Works 9
• Microsoft Silverlight 2 & 3

* = Windows XP Service Pack 2 will only received limited updates.

The roll out will be Tuesday August 10, 2010.

Apple is currently planning to issue two fixes for security flaws that allow attackers to remotely install malware on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches when exploited simultaneously.

The critical vulnerabilities cam to light over the weekend but weren’t acknowledged by Apple until Wednesday. Which also happened to be the day that the German Government warned of the vulnerabilities, which can be exploited via malicious websites or e-mails without the input of the user.

An Apple spokes woman issued a statement saying that they are aware of the issues and that they have “already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.” but no dates were given for availability.

Only one use of the vulnerabilities have been documented so far on jailbreakme.com, which jailbreaks an idevice simply by visiting the site and flicking the slider. This hack is not malicious, but there’s no reason why this method couldn’t be used for more sinister things. The German Federal Office for Information Security has warned that this could happen any time. “it has to be expected that hackers will soon use the weak spots for attacks. this allows potential attackers access to the complete system, including administrator rights.”

Jailbreakme.com exploits two distinct iOS flaws to execute the hack. the first is a bug in the software that parses fonts in PDF files, this allows hackers to inject any code they like into the document-viewing app. The second allows them to break out of the built-in security sandbox, the code can then access the root of the device.

So, until a patch is released, user should be wary of following links on sites, chat messages and e-mails. Websense has provided a list of other browsers that require user input in order to open a PDF file. Currently iPhones are set to automatically open PDFs included in e-mails, so you may want to be anti social for a while.

If your finding recently that you can’t send to hotmail accounts and are getting the following bounce:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:  Confirmation of Office at 2 King Street

      Sent:     09/06/2010 14:36

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

****@hotmail.com on 09/06/2010 14:37

            The message cannot be delivered due to a configuration error on the server. Please contact your Administrator.

            < woodbine.london.02.net #5.3.0>

The answer is this…There seems to be a problem with some of 02’s servers. The main culprits being April and woodbine, which I think may be new servers to O2. Users that have been affected for us so far are those that are on a Bethere line (part of O2) and using a Bethere SMTP relay. The way we’ve been able to get around it is to add in another SMTP relay that sends out to hotmail.co.uk and hotmail.com via DNS using the local server. Giving the Bethere relay a higher cost of 10 and  the Hotmail relay a cost of 1 and 2 for .com and co.uk. This seems to do the trick.

Another domain that’s affected is live and probably MSN too. So until O2 sort their servers out this is what to do, and you can find out how to do it here.

Patch Tuesday is drawing near and Microsoft have released the usual list of bulletins and patches. 10 updates will be distributed on the coming Tuesday, patching a whopping 34 vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities will be patched in Windows, Internet Explorer, Office and SharePoint.

Three out of the ten have been labelled as “critical” and the other seven as “important”. The patches will address remote code executions (RCE), elevation of privileges and tampering.

The following software and operating systems will be patched:

These patches will roll out on the 8th of June and will require a restart. You can read more on Microsoft’s security bulletin website.

Time is running out for admins and developer with the end of support for XP SP2 and 2000 coming on July 13th.

Many Enterprise users are still running XP desktops, often because they are tied to proprietary software. They now have two months to upgrade to XP SP3 if they want to continue receiving support and patches from Microsoft.

The extended support for XP SP3 runs until April the 8th, 2014, Then XP will finally be RIP. Windows XP was released in 2001, so when it’s officially cut loose it will be nearly 13 years old.

Support and patches for Windows 2000 Server and desktop will also stop on the 13th of July. Microsoft has advised users to upgrade to Windows 7 and server 2003/2008.

SP2 for XP was released in 2004, it included a default built in firewall which helped to stop the spread of worms such as Nimda and Blaster. Which both reeked all sorts of havoc in the early part of this decade.

Qualys, a vulnerability scanning firm, estimates that 50% of XP machines are still running SP2. So the task for Enterprise admins is not a small one.

McAfee is reimbursing users who have had to fork out to get their computers fixed after last weeks security update damaged their machines.

The update falsely labelled Windows system files as a virus, machines were then sent into a perpetual reboot loop or network access was cut off. McAfee users were asked to call a toll free number to speak with a technician. If the techie can’t fix it then a software fix can be downloaded to another machine. And if that won’t do it McAfee will send out a CD.

For those who have already spent money on fixing their machine, McAfee have said it is "committed to reimbursing reasonable expenses". Details on how to claim will be posted on the McAfee site in the next few days. McAfee have also promised tow years extra free to subscribers who had their machines stuffed up by the update.

It was a mammoth patch Tuesday just gone. Microsoft, Adobe and Oracle all released updates for critical vulnerabilities.

Microsoft release 11 updates that patched 25 bugs. Three of these for flaws in media software that allowed hackers in when listening/viewing a malicious audio/video file. This affected Vista but not Windows 7. Another flaw does affect windows 7, and all Windows OSs it seems. The vulnerability potentially allows attackers to remotely execute malicious code by sending out manipulated server message block, which are queries used for network file shares. The fix for this has been worked on by MS since November last year.

Adobe’s updates fix 15 flaws in Reader and Acrobat that relate to PDFs. The patches are rated a critical, which means attackers can exploit the vulnerabilities to gain control of a users’ machine. Adobe have also released an auto updater for it’s software, which can also be run manually. It may take up to 7 days for the updater to kick in buy it’s self, but after that it will run every three days.

Oracle released a whopping 47 updates for security flaws in a wide range of it’s software. Such as Database Server, Fusion Middleware, Collaboration Suite, E-Business Suite, and PeopleSoft Enterprise.

All these updates put the strain on admins as allot of them equired a reboot. But rather that than a compromised network.

Studies have shown that businesses have really hit it off with Microsoft’s Windows 7. It is estimated that 16% of all companies are already using with 42% to move over to it by the end of 2010.

932 businesses were surveyed in January. 58% of them said at least one of their machines will be running Windows 7 by the end of the year. If you think about the fact that Windows 7 was only available for retail in Oct 2009, it’s been a massive success compared to Vista.

Microsoft has already begun winding down Windows XP, with IE 6 having been laid to rest. Businesses are now concerned about longterm support of their XP systems. Most business and, individuals passed on the move to Vista. So now the pressure is really mounting to upgrade from XP to Windows 7.

Microsoft say Windows 7 is the quickest selling OS ever. This may encourage businesses to upgrade, not wanting to be left behind.

Over 90 million licenses of windows 7 have already been sold, with a projected 300 million by the end of 2010. It seems that this is something Microsoft could easily achieve. So, this could mean busy times for IT support companies with all these upgrades and installs to do.

Active Directory Explorer is an advanced viewer and editor of AD. It makes for easier navigation of an AD database. You can define favourite locations, view attributes and object properties with out annoying dialogue boxes. You can view object schema’s, edit permissions and perform detailed searches that can then be saved for future use. Genius!

With AD Explorer you also have the ability to take snapshots of the database. These can then be saved for offline viewing and comparisons.  This can be navigated as if it were live. The comparison functionality means that you can easily compare 2 snapshots to see what has changed between them.

Useful bit of kit, but why isn’t this built in with AD? That way you can start collecting snap shots from the start. I think it would make an admins life allot easier. You can download this at:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963907.aspx