Security Holes Found In Microsoft Easter Eggs
REDMOND, WA -- It's damage control time for the Microsoft Marketing
Machine. Not only have exploits been found in IE, Outlook, and even the
Dancing Paper Clip, but now holes have been uncovered in Excel's Flight
Simulator and Word's pinball game.
"If you enter Excel 97's flight simulator and then hit the F1, X, and
SysRq keys while reading a file from Drive A:, you automatically gain
Administrator rights on Windows NT," explained the security expert who
first discovered the problem. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."
Office 97 and 2000 both contain two hidden DLLs, billrulez.dll and
eastereggs.dll, that are marked as "Safe for scripting" but are not.
Arbitrary Visual BASIC code can be executed using these files. More
disturbing, however, are the undocumented API calls
"ChangeAllPasswordsToDefault", "OpenBackDoor", "InitiateBlueScreenNow",
and "UploadRegistryToMicrosoft" within easter~1.dll.
Microsoft spokesdroids have already hailed the problem as "an
insignificant byproduct of Microsoft innovation."
REDMOND, WA -- It's damage control time for the Microsoft Marketing
Machine. Not only have exploits been found in IE, Outlook, and even the
Dancing Paper Clip, but now holes have been uncovered in Excel's Flight
Simulator and Word's pinball game.
"If you enter Excel 97's flight simulator and then hit the F1, X, and
SysRq keys while reading a file from Drive A:, you automatically gain
Administrator rights on Windows NT," explained the security expert who
first discovered the problem. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."
Office 97 and 2000 both contain two hidden DLLs, billrulez.dll and
eastereggs.dll, that are marked as "Safe for scripting" but are not.
Arbitrary Visual BASIC code can be executed using these files. More
disturbing, however, are the undocumented API calls
"ChangeAllPasswordsToDefault", "OpenBackDoor", "InitiateBlueScreenNow",
and "UploadRegistryToMicrosoft" within easter~1.dll.
Microsoft spokesdroids have already hailed the problem as "an
insignificant byproduct of Microsoft innovation."
Related:
- This is excellent news! I haven't thought about remedies yet.
well, you know, I can think of one thing the court... - Look Out! It's Microsoft Outlook
An old maxim in the Unix community states,
"All programs expand until they can read mail... except... - What I'd like to see is a prohibition on Microsoft incorporating
multi-megabyte Easter Eggs and other stupid bloatware into Windows and
Office.
A typical computer with pre-installed Microsoft shoveware... - Linux Distro To Include Pre-Installed Security Holes
Proactive Synergy Paradigm,
the Linux distro targeted at Pointy Haired Bosses,... - Press Release -- For Immediate Release
Microsoft Corporation,
Redmond, WA ...Virtually all version of Linux (and... - Throwing Windows Out The Window
The Federal Bureau Of Missing Socks has banned the use of Microsoft Windows
and Office on all employee computers.
But don't get too excited; they aren't going to replace... - 8GB Ought To Be Enough For Anybody
REDMOND, WA --
In a shocking move, Microsoft has revealed that the... - Microsoft ActivePromo Campaign: "Windows Competitive Upgrade Offer"
Microsoft's PR masterminds are planning a massive marketing campaign,
code-named "ActivePromo 2000", to promote the upcoming... - Microsoft Mandatory Survey (#13)
Customers who want to upgrade to Windows 98 Second Edition must now fill
out a Microsoft survey online before they can order the bugfix/upgrade.
Question 13: Which of the following new Microsoft products...
