The following is a Security Bulletin from the Microsoft Product Security
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Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS99-007)
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Patch Available for Taskpads Scripting Vulnerability
Originally Posted: February 22, 1999
Summary
=======
Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a vulnerability in the
Taskpads feature, which is provided as part of the Microsoft(r) Windows(r)
98 Resource Kit, Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler, and BackOffice(r) Resource
Kit, second edition. The vulnerability could allow a malicious web site
operator to run executables on the computer of a visiting user. Only
customers who have installed one of the affected products and who surf the
web using the machine on which it is installed are at risk from this
vulnerability.
A fully supported patch is available to remove the Taskpads functionality,
and Microsoft recommends that affected customers download and install it.
Issue
=====
Taskpads is a feature provided by several Microsoft Windows Resource Kit
products, as detailed below in Affected Software Versions. It is part of the
Resource Kits' Tools Management Console Snap-in, and allows users to view
and run Resource Kit Tools via an HTML page rather than through the standard
Large Icon, Small, Icon, List, and Detailed Views. A vulnerability exists
because certain methods provided by Taskpads are incorrectly marked as "safe
for scripting" and can be misused by a web site operator to invoke
executables on a visiting user's workstation without their knowledge or
permission.
The affected products are, by default, not installed on Windows 95, Windows
98 or Windows NTŪ. The Windows 98 Resource Kit and Resource Kit Sampler can
only be installed on Windows 98. The BackOffice Resource Kit can be
installed on Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT, but is most commonly
installed on Windows NT servers, which, per recommended security practices,
usually will not be used for web surfing.
While there have not been any reports of customers being adversely affected
by these problems, Microsoft is releasing a patch to proactively address
this issue. The patch for this issue works by removing the Taskpads
functionality, which is rarely used. It does not affect any other features
of the affected products.
Affected Software Versions
==========================
- Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit, Microsoft Windows 98
- Resource Kit Sampler (included as part of Windows 98 but
not installed by default)
- Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit, second edition
What Microsoft is Doing
=======================
Microsoft has released patches that fix the problem identified. The patches
are available for download from the sites listed below in What Customers
Should Do.
Microsoft also has sent this security bulletin to customers
subscribing to the Microsoft Product Security Notification Service.
See (http://www.microsoft.com/security/services/bulletin.asp)
for more information about this free customer service.
Microsoft has published the following Knowledge Base (KB) article on this
issue:
- Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q218619,
Taskpads Lets Web Sites Invoke Executables from a User's Computer.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q218/6/19.ASP
(Note: It might take 24 hours from the original posting of this
bulletin for the KB article to be visible in the Web-based
Knowledge Base.)
What Customers Should Do
========================
Microsoft highly recommends that all affected customers download the
appropriate patch to protect their computers. The patches can be found at:
- Windows 98 Resource Kit, Windows 98 Resource Kit Sampler,
and BackOffice, second Edition for Windows 95 and 98
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/win98/taskpads/tmcpatch.exe
- Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit, second edition for Windows NT
x86 version: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/nt4/x86/
taskpads/itmcpatch.exe
Alpha version: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/nt4/
alpha/taskpads/atmcpatch.exe
(Note: URLs have been word-wrapped)
More Information
================
Please see the following references for more information related to this
issue.
- Microsoft Security Bulletin MS99-007,
Patch Available for Taskpads Scripting Vulnerability
(the Web-posted version of this bulletin),
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/ms99-007.asp.
- Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article Q218619,
Taskpads Lets Web Sites Invoke Executables from a User's Computer.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q218/6/19.ASP
(Note: It might take 24 hours from the original posting of this
bulletin for the KB article to be visible in the Web-based
Knowledge Base.)
Obtaining Support on this Issue
===============================
If you require technical assistance with this issue, please
contact Microsoft Technical Support. For information on
contacting Microsoft Technical Support, please see
http://support.microsoft.com/support/contact/default.asp.
Acknowledgments
===============
Microsoft would like to acknowledge Adrian O'Neill for discovering this
issue and bringing it to our attention.
Revisions
=========
- February 22, 1999: Bulletin Created
For additional security-related information about Microsoft
products, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security
------------------------------------------------------------
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