Microsoft Windows Live Mail is prone to a flaw in the way it loads dynamic-link libraries (e.g. dwmapi.dll). The program uses a fixed path to look for specific files or libraries. This path includes directories that may not be trusted or under user control. By placing a custom version of the file or library in the path, the program will load it before the legitimate version. This allows an attacker to inject custom code that will be run with the privilege of the program or user executing the program. This can be done by tricking a user into opening a .eml, .nws or .rss file from the local file system or a USB drive in some cases. This attack can be leveraged remotely in some cases by placing the malicious file or library on a network share or extracted archive downloaded from a remote source.

Currently, there are no known upgrades or patches to correct this vulnerability. It is possible to temporarily work around the flaw by implementing the following workaround: edit the registry as outlined in MSKB 2264107 or run the Fixit utility it contains. Consult the Microsoft advisory.

• Exploit Database: 14728
• Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 2264107
• Secunia Advisory ID: 41098
• Other Advisory URL: http://blog.metasploit.com/2010/08/exploiting-dll-hijacking-flaws.html
  http://secunia.com/blog/120/
  http://www.attackvector.org/new-dll-hijacking-exploits-many/
• Vendor Specific News/Changelog Entry: http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/archive/2010/08/31/update-on-security-advisory-2269673.aspx
• Vendor Specific Advisory URL: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2269637.mspx
• News Article: http://www.scmagazineus.com/dll-hijacking-issue-prompts-microsoft-advisory-tool/article/177419/
  http://www.scmagazineus.com/microsoft-releases-new-tool-to-defend-against-dll-attack/article/178065/
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/20/windows_code_execution_vuln/
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/24/windows_dll_casualties/

• Nicolas Krassas

NVD does not currently have a CVSSv2 score assigned.