Summary: Vista 7 -- just like Vista and its processors -- is still Swiss cheese based on the latest news

● Breaking That Other OS

Yet another means of exploiting that other OS has been demonstrated by Sophos. An ordinary user can gain complete control of the system whether it is XP, Vista, “7″ etc. simply by running some code that tweaks a key in the registry. A workaround is to create a new key to block users from changing keys in the registry… Duh… How’s that for backwards compatibility?

This is another demonstration that M$ has created a monster running on nearly every PC on the planet that invites compromise. Now, hundreds of millions of users will have to do some dance with updates or tweak the registry themselves to do something that M$ neglected to do many years ago.

● 'Nightmare' kernel bug lets attackers evade Windows UAC security

Microsoft is investigating reports of an unpatched vulnerability in the Windows kernel that could be used by attackers to sidestep an important operating system security measure.

One security firm dubbed the bug a potential "nightmare," but Microsoft downplayed the threat by reminding users that hackers would need a second exploit to launch remote attacks.

● Newly discovered Windows kernel flaw bypasses UAC

Last week an exploit for a Windows kernel flaw was published by an unknown source. Presumably as a joke, details of the flaw, along with proof-of-concept code, were published on Code Project. Code Project is a programmer peer support community, containing many tutorials and useful snippets of code to assist developers. Malware developers are not the usual target audience for posts made to the site, and so perhaps unsurprisingly, the article has been removed (though is mirrored here).

The flaw is a privilege escalation vulnerability. Anyone who can run code on a Windows system can elevate her privileges to the highest level, and accordingly install back doors, compromise sensitive data, and so on. The flaw lies in a critical Windows driver called win32k.sys. The driver inappropriately handles certain data stored in the registry—data that is stored on a per-user basis, and hence accessible to any unprivileged program. The proof-of-concept code uses this flaw to elevate the privileges of the user running the demo code; it could just as well be used to install a back door or other malware.