New Outlook Bug Reported

A new bug has been discovered in Microsoft's popular Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail checking programs. The bug, which makes the two programs susceptible to buffer overflow, is being called the most common software bug of the last ten years.

According to Microsoft, the bug has to do with the manner that the programs parse e-mail headers when downloading mail from POP3 or IMAP4 accounts. The security bulletin states, "If the affected field were filled with random data, the e-mail could be made to crash. If the affected field were filled with carefully-crafted data, the e-mail client could be made to run code of the malicious user’s choice."

Users who have downloaded and installed Internet Explorer SP1 or IE 5.5 are already protected against the exploit unless the computer is running Windows 2000. Microsoft is currently working on a fix for the bug, and a patch is expected soon.

Read the MS Bulletin or the FAQ for more information.