New Windows DNS Flaw Found And Exploited

Hackers have begun to exploit a high-level security flaw in Window Server versions to attack their DNS services. This vulnerability is yet to be patched and if security measures are not taken in time it could result in entire networks being compromised. Microsoft has issued a special advisory on the issue. This advisory states that a malicious hacker looking to exploit this bug can do so by sending a malignant packet to the DNS service. The DNS service is a vital component of networking today as it is responsible for mapping text-based websites to numeric IP addresses. This bug does not affect consumer OSs like XP and Vista and can be found only on the Windows Server family, which include Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and the upcoming Windows Longhorne beta.

Though the bug is crucial, Microsoft acting quickly to limit its damage, has listed several ways to block an attack until a patch is issued. Administrators can disable RPC's remote management capability through the registry key settings, Microsoft said. They can also use block ports 1024 to 5000 on the firewall, which are used by the RPC protocol, and enable advanced TCP/IP filtering to control the flow of traffic.

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For further details please check out the advisory here.