Petteri Pyyny
21 Nov 2001 1:25
Ok, normally we don't inform about various Microsoft security problems, because they are not related to our area of expertise, audio & video. But now experts have found a security hole in Windows Media Player v6.4, probably the most popular video player in the world -- most of the users prefer to use this, rather old, version instead of Microsoft's bloatware WMP v7.x. Media Player 6.4 can be found from all Windows operating systems and can be launched by using Start menu and Run and typing mplayer2.exe in the box. This player is highly recommended for DivX and MPEG-1 playback.
Anyway, the bug allows hackers to create .asf streaming files that can then launch any program found from users harddrive, opening a possibility for various attacks, loss of data, etc. Microsoft has already released a patch for this bug that can be downloaded from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS01-056.asp