Microsoft Windows Cursor And Icon ANI Format Handling Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Microsoft Windows Cursor And Icon ANI Format Handling Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Microsoft Windows is prone to a stack buffer-overflow vulnerability because of insufficient format validation that occurs when handling malformed ANI cursor or icon files.

An attacker can exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of an unsuspecting user. A successful attack can result in the compromise of affected user accounts and computers.

This issue affects Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 when running Internet Explorer 6 and 7; other versions and client applications may also be affected.

Microsoft has recently disclosed that Outlook 2007 is not vulnerable, that Windows Mail on Vista is vulnerable in replying to or forwarding emails containing malicious ANI files, and that Outlook Express is vulnerable to this issue.

Third-party applications such as browsers that handle ANI files and call the ANI rendering functionality in GDI pose an attack vector for this vulnerability.