ITPRO

Printed from www.itpro.co.uk

Register to receive our regular email newsletter at http://www.itpro.co.uk/registration.

The newsletter contains links to our latest IT news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.

Skip to navigation

    New exploit hits MSN Messenger

New flaw could allow hackers to run remote code on victim's computer.

By Rene Millman, 29 Aug 2007 at 11:49

A new vulnerability has hit the MSN Messenger service, which could allow hackers to compromise the computers of people using the service.

A bug in the application's video chat component could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a victim's system. The flaw affects versions 6.x and 7.x of the popular instant messaging application, while the new version, called Windows Live Messenger 8.1 is unaffected.

According to an advisory put out by IT security firm Secunia, users of the previous versions of MSN Messenger should upgrade to the latest version. Micorosft also recommended the same course of action to affected users.

The flaw was discovered by a security researcher, known only as "Wushi". The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the handling of video conversations and can be exploited to cause a heap-based buffer overflow via specially crafted data sent to a user. According to the advisory, successful exploitation may allow execution of arbitrary code, but requires that the victim accepts the incoming web cam invitation.

Email to a friend

Print this page

Social Bookmark this article: What is this?

Be the first to comment on this article

You need to Login or Register to comment.

advertisement
advertisement

    Latest News Videos in Internet

Video: Q&A with Easynet Connect's Chris Stening

Play Video: Q&A with Easynet Connect's Chris Stening   Play

IT PRO spoke to Chris Stening, managing director of Easynet’s SME division, about whether ISPs are giving businesses the service they deserve.

 

    White papers

Want more background on today's hottest IT trends?

Visit IT PRO's white paper library for more on virtualisation, encryption and other topics.

    Register for IT PRO

You'll get exclusive member benefits including free white papers, downloads, Webinars and weekly newsletters full of the latest IT PRO news, reviews, insight and expertise.

Advertisement