Microsoft has labeled this fix as a “FAST PUBLISH” article to deal with the emerging issues impacted by the vulnerability.

According to Microsoft this issue impacts the following software:

  • Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2, when used with:
    • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems
    • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
    • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
    • Windows Server 2008 Standard
    • Windows Web Server 2008
  • Windows Vista Service Pack 2, when used with:
    • Windows Vista Business
    • Windows Vista Enterprise
    • Windows Vista Home Basic
    • Windows Vista Home Premium
    • Windows Vista Starter
    • Windows Vista Ultimate
    • Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
    • Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit Edition
    • Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
    • Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
    • Windows Vista Business 64-bit Edition
  • Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
  • 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 3
  • Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2
  • Microsoft Lync 2010
  • Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee
  • Microsoft Lync 2013
  • Microsoft Lync Basic 2013

Microsoft states they are aware of targeted attacks that try to exploit this vulnerability:

The vulnerability is a remote code execution vulnerability that exists in the way affected components handle specially crafted TIFF images. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to preview or open a specially crafted email message, open a specially crafted file, or browse specially crafted web content. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Since Microsoft is concerned about this attack profile they have released some immediate options for reducing the risk associated with this issue on the above mentioned OS’s and software.

Microsoft Fix It

Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)

According to the Microsoft Security Response Center these will prevent the exploitation and should not affect any programs functionality.

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