Effects
MS08-067 is not categorized as virus, worm, Trojan or backdoor. It is a critical vulnerability in the Windows Server Service on Windows 2008/Vista/2003/XP/2000 computers, which allows hackers to gain remote control of the affected computer with the same privileges as the logged on user.
The Server Service allows the user's local resources, such as disks and printers, to be shared, so that other users on the network can access them. However, there is a vulnerability because this service does not properly handle specially crafted RPC requests.
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a protocol used by a program to request a service from a program located on another computer in a network.
If exploited successfully, MS08-067 allows hackers to gain remote control of the affected computer with the same privileges as the logged on user. If this user had administrator rights , the hacker could take complete control of the system: create, modify or delete files, install programs, create new user accounts, etc.
MS08-067 is usually exploited by sending a specially crafted network packet to a vulnerable system. On Windows Vista and Server 2008 systems, the attacking user must be authenticated.
If you have a Windows 2008/Vista/2003/XP/2000 computer, it is recommended to download and apply the security patch for this vulnerability. Click here to access the web page for downloading the patch.