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Dynamically loading libraries in an application can lead to vulnerabilities if not secured properly. In this blog post we talk about loading a library using LoadLibraryEx() API and make use of options to make it safe. Know the defaults: The library file name passed to LoadLibrary() / LoadLibraryEx() call need not contain an extension.

Today, we released an update to address a vulnerability in Group Policy Preferences (MS14-025). Group Policy Preferences was an addition made to Group Policy to extend its capabilities. Among other things, Group Policy Preferences allows an administrator to configure: Local administrator accounts (name of the account, account password, etc) Configure a service or scheduled task (allowed to specify alternate credentials to run as) Mount network drives when a user logs in (allowed to specify alternate credentials to connect with) Group Policy Preferences are distributed just like normal group policy: An XML file containing the settings is written to the SYSVOL share of the domain controllers, and computers periodically query the SYSVOL share (authenticating to it using their computer account) for updates to the group policy.

Today we provide Advance Notification Service (ANS) for the release of eight bulletins, two rated Critical and six rated Important in severity. These updates will address vulnerabilities for .NET Framework, Office, Internet Explorer, and Windows. As we do every month, we’ve scheduled the security bulletin release for the second Tuesday of the month, May 13, 2014, at approximately 10:00 a.

At approximately 10 a.m. PDT, we will release an out-of-band security update to address the issue affecting Internet Explorer (IE) that was first discussed in Security Advisory 2963983. This update is fully tested and ready for release for all affected versions of the browser. The majority of customers have automatic updates enabled and will not need to take any action because protections will be downloaded and installed automatically.

Today, we released a security update to address the Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerability first described in Security Advisory 2963983. This security update addresses every version of Internet Explorer. While we’ve seen only a limited number of targeted attacks, customers are advised to install this update promptly. The majority of our customers have automatic updates enabled and so will not need to take any action as protections will be downloaded and installed automatically.

The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, best known as EMET, helps raise the bar against attackers gaining access to computer systems. Since the first release of EMET in 2009, our customers and the security community have adopted EMET and provided us with valuable feedback. Feedback both in forums and through Microsoft Premier Support Services, which provides enterprise support for EMET, has helped shape the new EMET capabilities to further expand the range of scenarios it addresses.

We’ve received a number of customer inquiries about the workaround steps documented in Security Advisory 2963983 published on Saturday evening. We hope this blog post answers those questions. Steps you can take to stay safe The security advisory lists several options customers can take to stay safe. Those options are (in summary):

Today, we released Security Advisory 2963983 regarding an issue that impacts Internet Explorer. At this time, we are only aware of limited, targeted attacks. This issue allows remote code execution if users visit a malicious website with an affected browser. This would typically occur by an attacker convincing someone to click a link in an email or instant message.

Today we released Security Advisory 2963983 regarding a potential vulnerability in Internet Explorer reported by FireEye and currently under investigation. We are working closely with FireEye to investigate this report of a vulnerability which was found used in very limited targeted attack: - the vulnerability is a “use-after-free” memory corruption and the exploit observed seems to target IE9, IE10 and IE11;

Today we published the April 2013 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered 13 questions in total, with the majority focusing on the update for Internet Explorer (MS14-018) and the Windows 8.1 Update (KB2919355). Two questions that were not answered on air have been included on the Q&A page.