Microsoft announced on Tuesday it has found a new security flaw with its Windows XP operating system and warned that an attacker could infiltrate other computers by persuading their owners to open a specialised graphics file.
The company released a patch to fix the flaw as well as a tool that allows users to scan their systems to see if they need it.
Users who have already downloaded Microsoft’s recent security update, Service Pack 2, are not affected.
The vulnerability affects people running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, later versions of Office and some specialised applications, including Digital Image Pro and Visio 2002.
The flaw can only be exploited if the user is tricked into opening a specialised file or viewing a specially crafted image, Microsoft said. – Sapa-AP