'Highly critical' security vulnerability identified in MSN Messenger


Posted by absorbation on Thu 31 Aug 2007 (14:33 GMT) (29720 views)
Yahoo! Messenger may of had another recent security scare relating to vulnerabilities in its webcam system last week, but things were soon patched up and users were protected. Now it seems MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger 8.0 also have a similar problem.

The problem is caused by a 'buffer overflow' and to be honest it is nothing to worry about if you know the people who you are accepting webcam invitations from. The problem with this situation is a fix is already present for Windows Live Messenger, but MSN Messenger is still open to the security flaw.

So what does this mean for MSN Messenger? Well MSN Messenger is still a popular program, Microsoft still support it and you have to remember Windows Live Messenger is just an updated and re-branded MSN Mesenger. Forcing users to update to Windows Live Messenger would not be a wise move.

Zdnet managed to get a quote from a Microsoft spokesperson on the issue:

Once we're done investigating, we will take appropriate action to help protect customers. This may include providing a security update through the monthly release process, an out-of-cycle update or additional guidance to help customers protect themselves.



This still shows Microsoft are still keen on MSN Messenger users and will support critical updates for the program. I expect a new build for MSN Messenger will be available within the near future.

Tags:   MSN Messenger  Security  Webcam    

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