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New attack can flatten XP firewall

November 11th, 2006 · No Comments


Hackers have published code that could let an attacker disable Windows Firewall on certain firewall.jpgWindows XP machines.

The code, which was posted on the Internet early Sunday morning, could be used to disable Windows Firewall on a fully patched Windows XP PC running Windows’ Internet Connection Service (ICS). This service allows Windows users to essentially turn theirs PCs into routers and share their Internet connections with other computers on a LAN. It is typically used by home and small business users.

The attacker could send a malicious data packet to another PC using ICS that would cause the service to terminate. Because this service is connected to the Windows firewall, this packet would also cause the firewall to stop working, said Tyler Reguly, a research engineer at nCircle Network Security Inc., who has blogged about the issue.

"Once the firewall is down, where’s your line of defense?" he said Monday in an interview. New attack can flatten XP firewall

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