COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- European computer security experts have already identified vulnerabilities in Microsoft's latest so-called critical security update for its Windows XP operating system.
Copenhagen's Secunia and Germany's Heise, acting just hours after the giant software company released a free download to help protect users from virus and worm writers, have found several ways to beat the upgrade.
Secunia says they found vulnerability in Internet Explorer that lets an attacker mask the true file extension of malicious downloads. The mask means an attacker could lull a user into opening a malicious file from a Web site by making the file appear as a legitimate extension, such as a PDF or MPEG.
Microsoft, which said it was investigating the alleged vulnerability, only put the so-called SP2 security patch for the Home edition of Windows XP on its auto-update servers this week.
SP2 provides a single place for people to control anti-virus software, firewall and XP updates as well as blocking pop-up ads, some spyware and warning about the dangers of e-mail attachments.
The update also tweaks XP to make it less vulnerable to the bugs exploited by viruses and other malicious programs.
