FortiGuard Advisory (FGA-2005-07)

Fortinet advises that its FortiGate security appliances, FortiMail antispam appliances and FortiClient Host Security software protect against possible malwares exploiting Microsoft Internet Explorer's Msdds.dll vulnerability (Microsoft Security Advisory 906267).

This vulnerability was disclosed on August 17th, 2005, and although a proof-of-concept exploit is publicly available, no vendor patch has been released yet (as of August, 22th 2005). The issue is caused by a flaw in Msdds.dll, a COM object shipped with various Microsoft applications (e.g. some versions of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Visual Studio). A specifically crafted web page instantiating this object could lead to full system compromise upon users viewing it in Internet Explorer.

As of writing, no malware exploiting this flaw has been reported. However, since making use of it would require little user interaction - added to the fact that a proof-of-concept code is publicly available and that no vendor patch is available yet - Fortinet experts estimate that malwares are likely to make use of this vulnerability soon via pointers to malicious webpages.

Fortinet protects against downloading and viewing such webpages as follows:
HTML/Msdds-exploit

Disclaimer:

Although Fortinet has attempted to provide accurate information in these materials, Fortinet assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. More specific information is available on request from Fortinet. Please note that Fortinet's product information does not constitute or contain any guarantee, warranty or legally binding representation, unless expressly identified as such in a duly signed writing.

About Fortinet ( www.fortinet.com ):

Fortinet is the pioneer and leading provider of ASIC-accelerated unified threat management, or UTM, security systems, which are used by enterprises and service providers to increase their security while reducing total operating costs. Fortinet solutions were built from the ground up to integrate multiple levels of security protection--including firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention, VPN, spyware prevention and anti-spam -- designed to help customers protect against network and content level threats. Leveraging a custom ASIC and unified interface, Fortinet solutions offer advanced security functionality that scales from remote office to chassis-based solutions with integrated management and reporting. Fortinet solutions have won multiple awards around the world and are the only security products that are certified in six programs by ICSA Labs: (Firewall, Antivirus, IPSec, SSL, Network IPS, and Anti-Spyware). Fortinet is privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California.