• Understanding the LNK 0day “USB drive” security hole

    Posted on July 21, 2010 at 03:47 CDT by • Comment in the Forums

    If you’re confused and concerned about all the talk of a USB-based security hole in Windows, there’s more and less to the matter than what you’ve probably heard.

    I have an article on InfoWorld Tech Watch that tries to explain what’s happening. Basically, the problem has nothing to do with USB drives or whether AutoRun is enabled on a PC or not. It has everything to do with how Windows handles calls for showing the icons in a shortcut.

    Right now there’s nothing you can do about it, but be of good cheer: there aren’t any exploits in the wild (far as anyone knows) except the original one, which targeted businesses with a Siemens SCADA industrial computer system. On the other hand, there’s a working “exploit” now available via Metsploit, so more cracks are undoubtedly on their way.

    Stay tuned.

    UPDATE: Oooops. I gave you a bad link, originally. There’s now a fix, described in this Tech Watch post.

    Windows Patches/Security
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