Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for September 2008

Published: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 | Updated: Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Version: 3.0

This bulletin summary lists security bulletins released for September 2008.

With the release of the bulletins for September 2008, this bulletin summary replaces the bulletin advance notification originally issued September 4, 2008. For more information about the bulletin advance notification service, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification.

For information about how to receive automatic notifications whenever Microsoft security bulletins are issued, visit Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.

Microsoft is hosting a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins on September 10, 2008, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada). Register now for the September Security Bulletin Webcast. After this date, this webcast is available on-demand. For more information, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Summaries and Webcasts.

Microsoft also provides information to help customers prioritize monthly security updates with any non-security, high-priority updates that are being released on the same day as the monthly security updates. Please see the section, Other Information.

Bulletin Information

Executive Summaries

The security bulletins for this month are as follows, in order of severity:

Critical (4)

Bulletin Identifier	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-054
Bulletin Title	Vulnerability in Windows Media Player Could Allow Remote Code Execution (954154)
Executive Summary	This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Player that could allow remote code execution when a specially crafted audio file is streamed from a Windows Media server. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. 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.
Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Impact of Vulnerability	Remote Code Execution
Detection	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer can detect whether your computer system requires this update. The update does not require a restart.
Affected Software	Microsoft Windows. For more information, see the Affected Software and Download Locations section.

Bulletin Identifier	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-052
Bulletin Title	Vulnerabilities in GDI+ Could Allow Remote Code Execution (954593)
Executive Summary	This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows GDI+. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted image file using affected software or browsed a Web site that contains specially crafted content. 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.
Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Impact of Vulnerability	Remote Code Execution
Detection	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer can detect whether your computer system requires this update. The update requires a restart.
Affected Software	Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET Framework, Office, SQL Server, Visual Studio. For more information, see the Affected Software and Download Locations section.

Bulletin Identifier	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-053
Bulletin Title	Vulnerability in Windows Media Encoder 9 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (954156)
Executive Summary	This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Encoder 9 Series. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. 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.
Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Impact of Vulnerability	Remote Code Execution
Detection	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer can detect whether your computer system requires this update. The update may require a restart.
Affected Software	Microsoft Windows. For more information, see the Affected Software and Download Locations section.

Bulletin Identifier	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-055
Bulletin Title	Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution (955047)
Executive Summary	This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user clicks a specially crafted OneNote URL. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. 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.
Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Impact of Vulnerability	Remote Code Execution
Detection	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer can detect whether your computer system requires this update. Mostly, the update does not require a restart.
Affected Software	Microsoft Office. For more information, see the Affected Software and Download Locations section.

Affected Software and Download Locations


Microsoft Windows 2000
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-054	MS08-052	MS08-053
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical	Critical	Critical
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4	Not applicable	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB938464) (Critical) Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 Service Pack 3 (KB947739) (No severity rating) Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 (KB947742) (No severity rating) Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (KB947746) (No severity rating) Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (KB947748) (No severity rating)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Critical)
Windows XP
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-054	MS08-052	MS08-053
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical	Critical	Critical
Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3	Windows Media Player 11 (Critical)	Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Critical)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2	Windows Media Player 11 (Critical)	Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Critical) Windows Media Encoder 9 Series x64 Edition (Critical)
Windows Server 2003
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-054	MS08-052	MS08-053
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical	Critical	Critical
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2	Not applicable	Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Moderate)
Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2	Not applicable	Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Moderate) Windows Media Encoder 9 Series x64 Edition (Moderate)
Windows Server 2003 with SP1 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems	Not applicable	Windows Server 2003 with SP1 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems (Critical)	Not applicable
Windows Vista
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-054	MS08-052	MS08-053
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical	Critical	Critical
Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 1	Windows Media Player 11 (Critical)	Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Critical)
Windows Vista x64 Edition and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1	Windows Media Player 11 (Critical)	Windows Vista x64 Edition and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1 (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series (Critical) Windows Media Encoder 9 Series x64 Edition (Critical)
Windows Server 2008
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-054	MS08-052	MS08-053
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical	Critical	Critical
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems	Windows Media Player 11* (Critical)	Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems* (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series* (Moderate)
Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems	Windows Media Player 11* (Critical)	Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems* (Critical)	Windows Media Encoder 9 Series* (Moderate) Windows Media Encoder 9 Series x64 Edition* (Moderate)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems	Not applicable	Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems (Critical)	Not applicable


Microsoft SQL Server
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-052
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Service Pack 2	GDR update: Not applicable QFE update: SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Service Pack 2 (KB954609) (Critical)
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2	GDR update: SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (KB954606) (Critical) QFE update: SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (KB954607) (Critical)
SQL Server 2005 x64 Edition Service Pack 2	GDR update: SQL Server 2005 x64 Edition Service Pack 2 (KB954606) (Critical) QFE update: SQL Server 2005 x64 Edition Service Pack 2 (KB954607) (Critical)
SQL Server 2005 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2	GDR update: SQL Server 2005 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2 (KB954606) (Critical) QFE update: SQL Server 2005 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2 (KB954607) (Critical)


Microsoft Visual Studio
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-052
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Service Pack 1	Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2002 Service Pack 1 (KB947736) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1	Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1 (KB947737) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1	Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 (KB947738) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008	Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (KB952241) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Report Viewer 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package	Microsoft Report Viewer 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package (KB954765) (Critical)
Microsoft Report Viewer 2008 Redistributable Package	Microsoft Report Viewer 2008 Redistributable Package (KB954766) (Critical)
Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8.0 Service Pack 1	Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8.0 Service Pack 1 when installed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (KB955368) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 Service Pack 1	Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 Service Pack 1 when installed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (KB955369) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 Service Pack 2	Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 Service Pack 2 when installed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (KB955370) (No severity rating)
Microsoft Platform SDK Redistributable: GDI+	Microsoft Platform SDK Redistributable: GDI+ (No severity rating)


Microsoft Forefront Security
Bulletin Identifier	MS08-052
Bulletin Maximum Severity Rating	Critical
Microsoft Forefront Client Security 1.0	Microsoft Forefront Client Security 1.0 when installed on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (KB957177) (Important)

Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance

Security Central

Manage the software and security updates you need to deploy to the servers, desktop, and mobile computers in your organization. For more information see the TechNet Update Management Center. The TechNet Security Center provides additional information about security in Microsoft products. Consumers can visit Security At Home, where this information is also available by clicking “Latest Security Updates”.

Security updates are available from Microsoft Update, Windows Update, and Office Update. Security updates are also available at the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security update".

Finally, security updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Microsoft Update Catalog provides a searchable catalog of content made available through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including security updates, drivers and service packs. By searching using the security bulletin number (such as, “MS07-036”), you can add all of the applicable updates to your basket (including different languages for an update), and download to the folder of your choosing. For more information about the Microsoft Update Catalog, see the Microsoft Update Catalog FAQ.

Detection and Deployment Guidance

Microsoft has provided detection and deployment guidance for this month’s security updates. This guidance will also help IT professionals understand how they can use various tools to help deploy the security update, such as Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Office Update, the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA), the Office Detection Tool, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), and the Extended Security Update Inventory Tool (ESUIT). For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 910723.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) allows administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates as well as common security misconfigurations. For more information about MBSA, visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

Windows Server Update Services

By using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), administrators can quickly and reliably deploy the latest critical updates and security updates for Windows 2000 operating systems and later, Office XP and later, Exchange Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000 to Windows 2000 and later operating systems.

For more information about how to deploy this security update using Windows Server Update Services, visit Windows Server Update Services.

Systems Management Server

Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) delivers a highly-configurable enterprise solution for managing updates. By using SMS, administrators can identify Windows-based systems that require security updates and to perform controlled deployment of these updates throughout the enterprise with minimal disruption to end users. The next release of SMS, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, is now available; see also System Center Configuration Manager 2007. For more information about how administrators can use SMS 2003 to deploy security updates, see SMS 2003 Security Patch Management. SMS 2.0 users can also use the Software Updates Services Feature Pack to help deploy security updates. For information about SMS, visit Microsoft Systems Management Server.

Note SMS uses the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and the Microsoft Office Detection Tool to provide broad support for security bulletin update detection and deployment. Some software updates may not be detected by these tools. Administrators can use the inventory capabilities of the SMS in these cases to target updates to specific systems. For more information about this procedure, see Deploying Software Updates Using the SMS Software Distribution Feature. Some security updates require administrative rights following a restart of the system. Administrators can use the Elevated Rights Deployment Tool (available in the SMS 2003 Administration Feature Pack and in the SMS 2.0 Administration Feature Pack) to install these updates.

Update Compatibility Evaluator and Application Compatibility Toolkit

Updates often write to the same files and registry settings required for your applications to run. This can trigger incompatibilities and increase the time it takes to deploy security updates. You can streamline testing and validating Windows updates against installed applications with the Update Compatibility Evaluator components included with Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0.

The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Microsoft Windows Vista, a Windows Update, a Microsoft Security Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer in your environment.

Other Information

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

Microsoft has released an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services, and the Download Center.

Non-Security, High-Priority Updates on MU, WU, and WSUS

For information about non-security releases on Windows Update and Microsoft update, please see:

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 894199: Description of Software Update Services and Windows Server Update Services changes in content for 2008. Includes all Windows content.
New, Revised, and Released Updates for Microsoft Products Other Than Microsoft Windows.

Security Strategies and Community

Update Management Strategies

Security Guidance for Update Management provides additional information about Microsoft’s best-practice recommendations for applying security updates.

Obtaining Other Security Updates

Updates for other security issues are available from the following locations:

Security updates are available from Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security update".
Updates for consumer platforms are available from Microsoft Update.
You can obtain the security updates offered this month on Windows Update, from Download Center on Security and Critical Releases ISO CD Image files. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 913086.

IT Pro Security Community

Learn to improve security and optimize your IT infrastructure, and participate with other IT Pros on security topics in IT Pro Security Community.

Acknowledgments

Microsoft thanks the following for working with us to help protect customers:

Greg MacManus of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting an issue described in MS08-052
Bing Liu of Fortinet's FortiGuard Global Security Research Team for reporting an issue described in MS08-052
Peter Winter-Smith of NGSSoftware and Ivan Fratric, working with Zero Day Initiative, for reporting an issue described in MS08-052
Vulnerability Research Team, Assurent Secure Technologies, for reporting an issue described in MS08-052
An anonymous researcher, working with Zero Day Initiative, for reporting an issue described in MS08-052
Nguyen Minh Duc and Le Manh Tung, with Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Center (BKIS) Hanoi University of Technology (Vietnam), for reporting an issue described in MS08-053
Brett Moore of Insomnia Security for reporting an issue described in MS08-055

Support

The affected software listed have been tested to determine which versions are affected. Other versions are past their support life cycle. To determine the support life cycle for your software version, visit Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates.
International customers can receive support from their local Microsoft subsidiaries. There is no charge for support that is associated with security updates. For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues, visit International Help and Support.

Disclaimer

The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.

Revisions

V1.0 (September 9, 2008): Bulletin summary published.
V2.0 (September 9, 2008): Bulletin summary updated to add Microsoft Office Project 2002 Service Pack 2, all Office Viewer software for Microsoft Office 2003, and all Office Viewer software for 2007 Microsoft Office System as Affected Software for MS08-052.
V2.1 (September 17, 2008): Bulletin summary updated to change Microsoft Office Project 2002 Service Pack 2 in the Affected Software table to Microsoft Office Project 2002 Service Pack 1. This is a name change only. There were no changes to the binaries or detection.
V2.2 (October 29, 2008): Bulletin summary updated to remove Microsoft Visio 2003 Viewer, Microsoft Visio 2007 Viewer, and Microsoft Visio 2007 Viewer Service Pack 1 as affected software for MS08-052.
V3.0 (December 9, 2008): Bulletin summary updated to add Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 1, Microsoft Expression Web and Microsoft Expression Web 2, and Microsoft Office Groove 2007 and Microsoft Office Groove 2007 Service Pack 1 as affected software for MS08-052.