Vulnerability Note VU#259890

Windows Media Player does not properly handle PNG images with excessive width or height values

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Windows Media Player because it does not properly handle PNG files with excessive width or height values. An attacker could try to exploit the vulnerability by constructing a malicious PNG that could potentially allow remote code execution if a user visited a malicious Web site or clicked a link in a malicious e-mail message. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

Microsoft has released Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-009 to address this issue.

Do Not Follow Unsolicited Links

In order to convince users to visit their sites, attackers often use URL encoding, IP address variations, long URLs, intentional misspellings, and other techniques to create misleading links. Do not click on unsolicited links received in email, instant messages, web forums, or internet relay chat (IRC) channels. Type URLs directly into the browser to avoid these misleading links. While these are generally good security practices, following these behaviors will not prevent exploitation of this vulnerability in all cases.

Systems Affected

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS05-009.mspx

Credit

This vulnerability was reported in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-009.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari based on information provided in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-009.

Other Information

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