Send Windows to Nirvana with an animated cursor

One of the many disadvantages of every new Windows edition is the fact that the operating system becomes more and more bloated. Microsoft adds new features to Windows which could then be used to exploit the system. Instead of concentrating on fast efficient systems they produce heavy systems that look shiny but have problems under the surface. Recently a vulnerability in Windows Animated Cursor Handling was discovered. In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must either visit a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit the vulnerability or view a specially crafted e-mail message or email attachment sent to them by an attacker.

You might be interested in which Windows editions are effected and which are not. It would also be nice to know if your browsers and e-mail clients are vulnerable and can be used to exploit the system. Vulnerable are Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 SP4. Several other Microsoft operating systems are affected as well like Windows Server 2003 but I think the first three cover most Windows editions that my readers use. Exploitation happens completely silently.

Take a look at the demonstration video below. It shows how Windows Vista enters a endless Crash-Restart loop caused by a malicious ani file which was dropped on the desktop. Attacks will most likely occur over the Internet.

A security company has released a temporary fix for the solution until an official Microsoft patch gets released.