Patched WinXP Still Vulnerable

Even if your WinXP is patched (SP2), it is still vulnerable.

New exploit blows by fully patched Windows XP systems -- "Any application that automatically displays a WMF image will cause the user’s machines to get infected. This includes older versions of Firefox, current versions of Opera, Outlook and all current version of Internet Explorer on all versions of Windows."

Here's a useful comment on the above blog entry: "Typing REGSVR32 /U SHIMGVW.DLL is a valid wordaround to avoid the exploit."

But I haven't tested it. Will try it on a WinXP machine soon.

In the meantime, please avoid opening WMF formatted files (e.g., fax images). And please be careful with WMF files.

From eWeek: Workaround, Protections Emerge for WMF Exploit - editing the registry instead of disabling shimgvw.dll will allow you to view image thumbnails in Explorer. Re-enabling the registry entry can be easily done using the tips of Jerome Athias.

[ First posted on 12/29/2005 by Manuel Viloria ]