Texas A&M AgriLife IT Security
Texas A&M AgriLife IT SecurityLatest IT news & tips to keep your computer safe

Archives for February 2011

paypal e-mail phishing effort in progress

by

As always, the most important rule of thumb is to NOT click on the link provided in an e-mail especially if they are asking for some login credentials. Just access the site directly by typing in the URL in your web browser.

Aside – Not sure if the mAssage part is a typo or intended to be humor. I guess you should at least get something back if they take your money. 😉

http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/new-phishing-scam-targets-paypal-users-022411

New Phishing Scam Targets PayPal Users

Customers of Internet money transfer service PayPal are being targeted in an aggressive email phishing scam that is masquerading as an urgent security warning, a familiar scam for PayPal customers.

Users of PayPal are receiving an email message from them that claims to be an urgent security warning. Those who follow the HTML link in the email are being redirected to a convincing facsimile of the PayPal website which claims that the user’s access is limited and presents them with a form asking for various banking information, including your bank name and credit card information, to remove the limitations, according to a post at Naked Security.

Along with the PayPal imitation page is the following massage:

When you will complete the document we have sent, remember to ALLOW javascript and ActiveX to run from the bar that will pop-up, otherwise we cannot verify the informations you have provided.February 22, 2011:Valued PayPaI Member, We have reasons to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.OPEN AND COMPLETE THE FORM ATTACHED IN THIS MESSAGE TO REGAIN ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT.Thank you for your time and understanding, PayPal Resolution Center.

For those who make the unfortunate decision of filling out this form and following the directions in the above message, you are, in essence, spoon-feeding your financial information to some unknown fraudster.

This scam falls in with a growing trend of attacks targeting online payment services.

The easiest and most reliable way to separate phishing scams from real email warnings is to go directly to the site that supposedly sent you the email–not following a link in the email–and logging in directly. If the site really has a security message for you, you’ll be able to read it via the PayPal messaging system.

Unpatched vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office products – Excel and Power point

by

DIR just provided the notification below on several unpatched vulnerabilities in all current versions of Microsoft Excel and in the 2007 Office version of Power Point.  Exploitation of the vulnerabilities require someone open a malicious excel file (commonly delivered via e-mail attachment but it also could be stored on a web page).   If the user is only logged in with a limited non-administrator account, the ability to compromise the system will reduced/limited.

The following security practices should be routinely reinforced to customers:

  • Don’t open attachments from unknown sources or that you are not expecting
  • Don’t download content from websites not associated with the University.
  • Use a limited/non-adminstrator windows account for daily use.


Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 11:20 AM
Subject: Multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel – RISK: HIGH
Importance: High

MULTI-STATE INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER CYBER SECURITY ADVISORY

MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER:

2011-005

DATE(S) ISSUED:

2/8/2011

SUBJECT:

Multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution

OVERVIEW:

Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Microsoft Office Excel, a spreadsheet application. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. The file may be received as an email attachment, or downloaded via the web. Successful exploitation could result in an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Failed exploit attempts will result in a denial-of-service condition.

Please note that there are currently no patches available for these vulnerabilities.

SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

·       Microsoft Excel 2002

·       Microsoft Excel 2003

·       Microsoft Excel 2007

·       Microsoft Excel 2010

·       Microsoft Office 2003

·       Microsoft Office XP

RISK:

Government:

·       Large and medium government entities: High

·       Small government entities: High

Businesses:

·       Large and medium business entities: High

·       Small business entities: High

Home users: High

DESCRIPTION:

Four vulnerabilities have been identified in Microsoft Office Excel that could allow an attacker to take complete control of an affected system. These vulnerabilities can be triggered by opening a specially crafted Excel file and can be exploited via email or through the web. In the email-based scenario, the user would have to open the specially crafted Excel file as an email attachment. In the web based scenario, a user would have to open the specially crafted Excel file that is hosted on a website. When the user opens the Excel file, the attacker’s supplied code will execute.

Details of these vulnerabilities are as follows:

·       A remote code execution vulnerability exists because the application uses insufficiently validated user-supplied data to increment an index used in an array.

·       A remote code execution vulnerability exists because of the way the application parses an ‘Office Art’ record.  When an error occurs, the application will add an uninitialized reference to a linked list.  When handling a Windows message the application will traverse the list causing the application to access the bad link; thus corrupting memory.

·       A remote code execution vulnerability exists because of a dangling pointer issue. This vulnerability occurs when parsing shape data within the Office Drawing format.

·       A remote code execution vulnerability exists because of an invalid object type. This vulnerability occurs when parsing an Office art object to a linked list.

Successful exploitation could result in an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Failed exploit attempts will result in a denial-of-service condition.

Please note that there are currently no patches available for these vulnerabilities.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

We recommend the following actions be taken:

·       Apply appropriate patches provided by Microsoft to vulnerable systems as soon as they become available.

·       Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack.

·       Remind users not to visit un-trusted websites or follow links provided by unknown or un-trusted sources.

·       Remind users not to open email attachments from unknown or un-trusted sources.

REFERENCES:

Security Focus:

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46225/

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46226/

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46227/

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46229/

Zero Day Initiative:

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-040/

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-041

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-042/

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-043/

MULTI-STATE INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER CYBER SECURITY ADVISORY

MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER:

2011-006

DATE(S) ISSUED:

2/8/2011

SUBJECT:

Vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint Could Allow Remote Code Execution

OVERVIEW:

A vulnerability has been discovered in Microsoft PowerPoint, a program used for creating presentations. This vulnerability can be exploited by opening a specially crafted PowerPoint file received as an email attachment, or by visiting a web site that is hosting a specially crafted PowerPoint file. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to gain the same privileges as the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

Please note that there is currently no patch available for this vulnerability.

SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

·      Microsoft PowerPoint 2007

RISK:

Government:

·      Large and medium government entities: High

·      Small government entities: High

Businesses:

·      Large and medium business entities: High

·      Small business entities: High

Home users: High

DESCRIPTION:

A vulnerability has been discovered in Microsoft PowerPoint which could allow an attacker to take complete control of an affected system. The vulnerability occurs when the application parses external objects in an ‘Office Art’ container. Successful exploitation of the vulnerability could result in an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

Please note that there is currently no patch available for this vulnerability.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

We recommend the following actions be taken:

·      Apply appropriate patches provided by Microsoft to vulnerable systems as soon as they become available.

·      Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack.

·      Remind users not to visit un-trusted websites or follow links provided by unknown or un-trusted sources.

·      Remind users not to open email attachments from unknown or un-trusted sources.

REFERENCES:

Security Focus:

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/46228/

Zero Day Initiative:

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-11-044/