Microsoft issues five bulletins on Windows flaws

IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. today released five security bulletins warning of several vulnerabilities that put computers running Windows at risk of attack.

The flaws affect desktop as well as server installations of multiple Windows versions. However, none of them is rated "critical," Microsoft's highest severity rating. The software maker deems the issues it reported on Tuesday "important," one notch lower on its severity rating scale.

In Microsoft's rating system for security issues, vulnerabilities that could allow a malicious Internet worm to spread without any action on the part of the user are rated critical. Vulnerabilities that can't spread a worm unless a user takes some kind of action but could still expose user data or threaten system resources are rated important.

A set of vulnerabilities in the WordPad word processing application affects many Windows releases, including Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2003. An attacker could exploit the flaws to gain complete control over the systems, Microsoft warned in bulletin MS04-041.

The WordPad flaws lie in conversion components of the application, Microsoft said. To exploit the vulnerabilities, an attacker would have to lure a victim to a specially crafted Web page or send an attachment in e-mail.

Microsoft deems the WordPad problem "important" on systems running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP with Service Pack 1. Systems running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 are at lesser risk, according to Microsoft. Also, an installation of Microsoft Word mitigates the risk, the vendor said.

A security vulnerability in HyperTerminal affects the same Windows releases. A buffer overrun flaw in the Windows communications application could allow an attacker to take over a victim's system, Microsoft said in security bulletin MS04-043. A successful attack would require the victim to open a malicious HyperTerminal file, Microsoft said.

The HyperTerminal issue is "important" for systems running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. HyperTerminal isn't installed by default on Windows Server 2003, so Microsoft rates the issue "moderate" for that operating system.

Limited to Windows NT Server 4.0 are two flaws in the operating system's Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server service. One could allow an attacker to launch a denial-of-service attack, disabling the DHCP service. The second vulnerability could allow remote code execution, Microsoft said in Security Bulletin MS04-042.

A set of flaws in the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) affect Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. An attacker could gain control of a system running the software by constructing a malicious network packet, Microsoft