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National Cyber Alert System
Technical Cyber Security Alert TA04-260Aarchive

Microsoft Windows JPEG component buffer overflow

Original release date: September 16, 2004
Last revised: --
Source: US-CERT

Systems Affected

This vulnerability affects the following Microsoft Windows operating systems by default:

  • Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 64-Bit Edition

Other Microsoft Windows operating systems, including systems running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, are not affected by default. However, this vulnerability may affect all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems if an application or update installs a vulnerable version of the gdiplus.dll file onto the system.

Please note that this vulnerability affects any software that uses the Microsoft Windows operating system or Microsoft's GDI+ library to render JPEG graphics. Please see the Systems Affected section of the vulnerability note to determine if third-party software is affected. A list of affected Microsoft products is available in Appendix B, or for the complete list of affected and non-affected Microsoft products, please see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028.

Overview

Microsoft's Graphic Device Interface Plus (GDI+) contains a vulnerability in the processing of JPEG images. This vulnerability may allow attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code on the affected system. Exploitation may occur as the result of viewing a malicious web site, reading an HTML-rendered email message, or opening a crafted JPEG image in any vulnerable application. The privileges gained by a remote attacker depend on the software component being attacked.


I. Description

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028 describes a remotely exploitable buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft's Graphic Device Interface Plus (GDI+) JPEG processing component. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a victim user to visit a malicious web site, read an HTML-rendered email message, or otherwise view a crafted JPEG image with a vulnerable application. No user intervention is required beyond viewing an attacker-supplied JPEG image.

Any applications (Microsoft or third-party) that use the GDI+ library to render JPEG images may present additional attack vectors for this vulnerability. While some applications use the Windows operating system version of the GDI+ library, other applications may install and use another version, which may also be vulnerable. Microsoft has created a GDI+ Detection Tool to help detect products that may contain a vulnerable version of the JPEG parsing component. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 873374 provides instructions on how to download and use this tool.

In addition to running Microsoft's detection utility, we recommend searching your system for "gdiplus.dll" to help determine what third-party applications may be affected by this vulnerability. Also note that applications may re-install a vulnerable version of the GDI+ library if re-installed after a patch has been applied.

We are tracking this vulnerability in Vulnerability Note VU#297462. This reference number corresponds to CVE candidate CAN-2004-0200.


II. Impact

Remote attackers exploiting the vulnerability described above may execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the software components being attacked.


III. Solution

Apply patches from Microsoft

Apply the appropriate patches as specified in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. Please note that this bulletin provides several updates to the operating system and various applications that rely on GDI+ to render JPEG images. Depending on your system's configuration, you may need to install multiple patches.

In addition to releasing some patches on Windows Update, Microsoft has released some patches on Office Update, and developer tool patches are available from MS04-028.

Apply patches from third-party vendors

Third-party software that relies on GDI+ to render JPEG images may also need to be updated. Apply the appropriate patches specified by your vendor. Please see your vendor's site and the Systems Affected section of the vulnerability note for more information. Depending on your system's configuration, you may need to install multiple patches.

Follow Microsoft recommendations for workarounds

Microsoft provides several workarounds for this vulnerability. Note that these workarounds do not remove the vulnerability from the system, and they will limit functionality. Please consult the "Workarounds for JPEG Vulnerability - CAN-2004-0200" section of Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028.


Appendix A. References


Appendix B. Affected Microsoft Products

The following Microsoft Products are affected:

  • Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
  • Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2
  • Microsoft Office XP Software:
    • Outlook 2002
    • Word 2002
    • Excel 2002
    • PowerPoint 2002
    • FrontPage 2002
    • Publisher 2002
  • Microsoft Office 2003
  • Microsoft Office 2003 Software:
    • Outlook 2003
    • Word 2003
    • Excel 2003
    • PowerPoint 2003
    • FrontPage 2003
    • Publisher 2003
    • InfoPath 2003
    • OneNote 2003
  • Microsoft Project 2002 Service Pack 1 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Project 2003 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Service Pack 2 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Visio 2003 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Software:
    • Visual Basic .NET Standard 2002
    • Visual C# .NET Standard 2002
    • Visual C++ .NET Standard 2002
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003
  • Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Software:
    • Visual Basic .NET Standard 2003
    • Visual C# .NET Standard 2003
    • Visual C++ .NET Standard 2003
    • Visual J# .NET Standard 2003
  • The Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.0 SDK Service Pack 2
  • Microsoft Picture It! 2002 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Greetings 2002
  • Microsoft Picture It! version 7.0 (all versions)
  • Microsoft Digital Image Pro version 7.0
  • Microsoft Picture It! version 9 (all versions, including Picture It! Library)
  • Microsoft Digital Image Pro version 9
  • Microsoft Digital Image Suite version 9
  • Microsoft Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint (all versions)
  • Microsoft Platform SDK Redistributable: GDI+
  • Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
  • The Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.0 Service Pack 2
  • The Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1

Feedback can be directed to the US-CERT Technical Staff.

Copyright 2004 Carnegie Mellon University. Terms of use

Revision History

Sept 16, 2004: Initial release
Last updated February 08, 2008