Weakness In Microsoft Windows

This sounds similar to what CoolWWWSearch can do. There’s no mention of whether or not this also affects regedit.exe.

Secunia Advisory: SA16560

Critical: Not critical
Impact: Spoofing
Where: Local system
Solution Status: Unpatched

OS:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Igor Franchuk has discovered a weakness in Microsoft Windows, which can be exploited to hide certain information.

The weakness is caused due to an error in the Registry Editor Utility (regedt32.exe) when handling long string names. This can be exploited to hide strings in a registry key by creating a string with a long name, which causes this string and any subsequently created strings in the key to be hidden.

Successful exploitation e.g. makes it possible for malware to hide strings in the “Run” registry key. However, these hidden strings created after the string with the overly long name will still be executed when the user logs in.

The weakness has been confirmed in a fully updated Windows XP SP2 system, and has also been reported in Windows 2000. Other versions may also be affected.

Solution: Ensure that systems have up-to-date anti-virus and spyware detection software installed.

[Continue reading Secunia Advisory: SA16560]