Skip to main content

Microsoft acknowledges serious Windows security vulnerability

On Tuesday, Microsoft confirmed the existence of a vulnerability present in several versions of the Windows operating system. If exploited, the glitch could leave users’ computers open to being fully controlled by an outside attacker.

The exploit, first reported on December 15 at a security conference in South Korea, takes advantage of the way Windows’ graphics rendering engine processes certain thumbnail images. The booby-trapped images could be placed in an Office document, a website, or an e-mail.

“An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the security context of the logged-on user,” Microsoft said in a statement.  “An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.”

If that sounds positively frightening, you may be comforted to hear that so far reports of the vulnerability seem to be strictly theoretical – there are no known reports of an attack taking place in the wild.

The two most recent versions of Windows — Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 — are reportedly not susceptible to the bug. Microsoft suggests that concerned users of other Windows versions mitigate risks of an attack by running as limited users, not as users will full administrative controls.

Microsoft says that it is currently investigating the bug and may address the problem in a future security update.

Editors' Recommendations

Aemon Malone
Former Digital Trends Contributor
The best Windows 11 themes we’ve tried so far this year
One of the wallpapers from the Windows 11 sunset theme.

If you've just upgraded to the latest version of the Windows operating system, Windows 11, you're probably ready to dive in and customize its appearance. A quick way to customize Windows 11 is by adding a theme. Don't know where to start looking for great Windows 11 themes? Below, you will find some of our current favorite themes for the Windows 11 OS and why we enjoy them.
Explore native Windows 11 themes first

Windows 11 itself represents a significant change in design, exchanging the Windows 10 look for more rounded edges, less-crowded menu screens, and a streamlined, friendly appearance. Part of this design includes new themes specifically made for Windows 11, and we suggest starting your theme search here. These themes are expertly designed, don’t require any additional downloads, and look great.

Read more
How to back up emails in Outlook on Windows and Mac
how to back up emails in outlook laptop

Whether you have emails you want to make sure to hang onto because you’re getting a new computer or you're troubleshooting a problem, you can create a backup in Microsoft Outlook.

By exporting your inbox to an Outlook file format, you can easily import it again later if needed. Alternatively, you can export a CSV file that you can open in Excel to review and analyze. Here, we’ll explain how to back up emails in Outlook using both file types.

Read more
How to create a new team in Microsoft Teams
Example of Teams chat.

Few communication applications are as versatile as Microsoft Teams. Along with allowing you to send quick messages to teammates or launch a video chat, the software is fully integrated with Office 365 so you can optimize its performance. One of its most useful features, however, is the ability to create a new team. This lets you group people together so they can chat about certain projects or goals without spamming everyone in your organization.

Knowing how to make a new team and how to properly organize teams makes it easy for a company to enhance productivity and streamline communication. When used effectively, Microsoft Teams is useful for both in-office and remote workers, ensuring everyone stays on the same page regardless of location.

Read more