Windows flaw may hack applications, start Denial of service attack

Buffer overflow can create problems in some some Windows apps, says Secunia.

A new flaw has been found in Microsoft's software although the flaw is not considered to be "severe". The flaw can be used to exploit denial of service on specific applications. 

Secunia, the security vendor has stated that using a buffer overflow, the attack can be initiated. The buffer overflow occurs when an excess data flows into a specific area of memory and overwrites the existing data or cause unintentional code execution.

Attacks occur when when a user accesses a malicious website with a long URL and it can also happen when a user opens an Internet shortcut which points to such a site. The firm which found out the vulnerability, Secunia has rated the flow as "less critical". Although the flaw could be used to hack applications, a hacker would not be able to run the code because of the code prevention mechanism in Windows.

The versions of windows which are prone to this vulnerability are the Home and Professional editions of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, and four versions of Windows Server 2003: Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard and Web edition.

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