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ActiveX

MS08-041 : The Microsoft Access Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

MS08-041 fixes a vulnerability in the Microsoft Access Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control. It’s an interesting vulnerability so we wanted to go into more detail about platforms at reduced risk and also more about the servicing strategy for this vulnerability. Windows Vista at reduced risk? We first heard about this vulnerability from customers sending in reports of active attacks.

MS08-050 : Locking an ActiveX control to specific applications.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

MS08-050 concerns an ActiveX control that can be maliciously scripted to leak out personal information such as email addresses. There appeared to be no need for the control to have this behaviour so giving it a Kill-Bit seemed the correct approach to take. During the extensive testing that each security update undergoes, however, it became apparent that the Kill-Bit wasn’t ideal as it partially broke the Remote Assistance application.

Why there won't be a security update for WkImgSrv.dll

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Recently, there was a public post in milw0rm (http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/5530), talking about an issue in the ActiveX control of Microsoft Works 7 WkImgSrv.dll. The PoC claims that it would achieve remote code execution. McAfee Avert Labs Blog also had a post about this (http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2008/04/17/potential-microsoft-works-activex-0-day-surfaces/). At first glance the issue sounds serious, right?

MS08-023: Same bug, four different security bulletin ratings

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Security bulletin MS08-023 addressed two ActiveX control vulnerabilities, one in a Visual Studio ActiveX control and another in a Yahoo!’s Music Jukebox ActiveX control. The security update sets the killbit for both controls. For more about how the killbit works, see the excellent three-part series (1, 2, 3) from early February in this blog.

The Kill-Bit FAQ: Part 2 of 3

Thursday, February 07, 2008

It is very common for Microsoft security bulletins to include “Kill-Bits” to disable individual ActiveX controls / COM objects. Here is the second part of our three-part Kill-Bit FAQ. The Kill-Bit FAQ – Part 2 of 3 How do ActiveX Controls, OLE Controls, and COM Objects relate? An ActiveX control is an OLE control that is intended to be used inside a web browser.

Not safe = not dangerous? How to tell if ActiveX vulnerabilities are exploitable in Internet Explorer

Sunday, February 03, 2008

In early January you may have read posts on security distribution lists regarding two ActiveX Controls released by Microsoft. We have investigated those controls and fortunately, they are not exploitable since IE does not treat them as being safe. We wanted to give you some background on how to evaluate whether a potential vulnerability found in an ActiveX control is an exploitable condition in Internet Explorer.