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Chinese Windows 2000 attack crashes PCs

Steven Parker   via MSFN on 16 April 2008 - 12:45 · 6 comments & 5605 views

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Security researchers have spotted malicious code that triggers a critical vulnerability in the Chinese version of Windows 2000, and warned non-Chinese users to expect attacks. Symantec confirmed that the proof-of-concept code publicly posted to the milw0rm.com site earlier in the day successfully attacks Chinese editions of Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4) by exploiting one of the two critical bugs in Windows GDI, or graphics device interface, that Microsoft patched last week.

But while the attack code works on Chinese versions of Windows, it doesn't when pitched against other editions. Rather than allow hackers to execute additional code - malware to hijack the PC, for instance - the exploit simply crashes Explorer, the Windows file manager, on non-Chinese versions of the OS.

"This exploit will not successfully allow for remote code execution against English systems [but it] can successfully trigger a crash on English versions of Microsoft Windows," Symantec wrote in an analysis for customers of its DeepSight threat notification service.

View: Full Article @ Tech World

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 6 additional comments
#1 XerXis on 16 Apr 2008 - 12:51
so, the bug is patched, not a problem for people who use automatic updates
#2 jonnytabpni on 16 Apr 2008 - 13:44
Burn in hell XP!!!! Long live Windows 2000

(j/k)
#3 tele-fragd on 16 Apr 2008 - 14:46
So the malware is racist?
#4 Arkos Reed on 16 Apr 2008 - 15:08
oh shoot... a vulnerability affecting mostly chinese/unicode variants of windows
for once it's not them damn chinese trying to f*** around with us
#5 Landlocked on 16 Apr 2008 - 19:27
...somewhere a Tibetan monk who writes script is giggling.
#6 +Chrono951 on 17 Apr 2008 - 04:07
seriously, this version is 8 years old, what did you expect?

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