Windows falls victim to animated cursor attacks

By
Follow google news

Corrupted cursor files could deliver malicious payloads.

Windows falls victim to animated cursor attacks
Microsoft is warning that attackers are actively exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in animated cursor (.ani) files for Windows. 

Security vendors have seen targeted attacks that used malformed .ani files. The flaw could allow attackers to take control of a system with no user interaction.

The attack is launched when the user receives a specially crafted .ani file embedded in either a web page or email. The file is installed on the user's system and then delivers its malicious payload.

Nearly all supported versions of Windows and Internet Explorer are vulnerable to the attack. Only users running Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 in protected mode appear to be safe, according to Microsoft.

In protected mode, no file is allowed to access or modify any system files without user permission.

Alternative browsers such as Firefox and Opera do not appear to be vulnerable to the attack.
Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright ©v3.co.uk
Tags:

Most Read Articles

AI can unmask online users for just a few dollars each

AI can unmask online users for just a few dollars each

Services Australia describes fraud, debt-related machine learning use cases

Services Australia describes fraud, debt-related machine learning use cases

Health and Aged Care CISO retires

Health and Aged Care CISO retires

Phishers abuse little-known core Internet infrastructure

Phishers abuse little-known core Internet infrastructure

Log In

  |  Forgot your password?