Field Notice: FN - 62258 - Cisco Enterprise and Hosted Contact Center Products Notice for Microsoft November 2005 Security Updates

November 11, 2005

NOTICE:

THIS FIELD NOTICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY KIND OF GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE FIELD NOTICE OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE FIELD NOTICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS FIELD NOTICE AT ANY TIME.

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Products Affected

Products Affected
Cisco CTI and CTI OS - 4.x, 5.x, 6.0(0) and 7.0(0); with the most up to date Service Release
Cisco Collaboration Server - 5.0; with the most up to date Service Release
Cisco Internet Service Node - 1.0(1), 2.0(0) and 2.1(0)
Cisco Voice Portal - 3.0; with the most up to date Service Release
Cisco eMail Manager - 5.0; with the most up to date Service Release
ICM Enterprise - 4.6.2, 5.0(0), 6.0(0) and 7.0(0); with the most up to date Service Release
ICM Hosted - 4.6.2, 5.0(0), 6.0(0) and 7.0(0); with the most up to date Service Release
IPCC Enterprise - 4.6.2, 5.0(0), 6.0(0) and 7.0(0); with the most up to date Service Release
IPCC Hosted - 4.6.2, 5.0(0), 6.0(0) and 7.0(0); with the most up to date Service Release

Problem Description

On November 8, 2005, Microsoft released the following security updates:

MS05-053 - Critical

Vulnerabilities in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Code Execution (896424)

Affected Supported Software:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

- Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2

For additional information on Microsoft security updates, see the Microsoft Security page.

Background

Cisco evaluates Microsoft security notices and updates for potential impact to Cisco Contact Center products.

The qualification process results in one of four categorical ratings being applied to a given update: Impacting, Not Impacting, Deferred, or Not Applicable.

The four ratings are defined in the Cisco Customer Contact Software Policy for use of Third-Party Software and Security Updates document.

For the security updates listed in Problem Description section of this bulletin, Cisco has assigned the updates to the following categories:

Impacting

MS05-053 - Vulnerabilities in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Code Execution

The primary attack vector is through forcing a user to open a malicious, specially crafted file by hosting a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability, for example. However, Microsoft specifically calls other attack vectors. The Security Bulletin for MS05-053 cites that "for example, an attacker could log on to the system interactively or by using another program that passes parameters to the vulnerable component (locally or remotely). To locally exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially-designed application that could exploit the vulnerability, and thereby gain complete control over the affected system."

While an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system, Production Contact Center application servers should not be used for chat, e-mail or to browse unknown and potentially dangerous Web (or FTP) sites. Furthermore, proper measures should be implemented to restrict and audit user access to application servers.

Proper care should be taken in deciding on which updates to apply to your systems. For additional information on the security measures to be considered in an ICM environment, refer to the Security Best Practices for Cisco Intelligent Contact Management Software Guide at the Cisco ICM Technical Enterprise Edition Technical References page.

Product	Version(s)	Tested (Y/I*)	Components Tested (All or Specific)
ICM/IPCC	7.0(0) SR1	Y	All ICM components tested
ICM/IPCC	6.0 SR4	Y	All ICM components tested
ICM/IPCC	5.0 SR11	Y	All ICM components tested
CVP	3.0(0) SR1	Y	CVP tested

*"I" indicates that testing is in progress and will be updated when complete

Customers should follow Microsoft's guidelines regarding when and how they should apply these updates. Refer to the Microsoft website for full details of the potential exposure from the caveat, referenced on the Microsoft Security page.

Problem Symptoms

It is important to point out that Cisco Contact Center Support has not had any cases pertaining to this vulnerability recorded from our customer base as of November 9, 2005.

Workaround/Solution

Cisco has assessed, and where deemed appropriate, validated the Microsoft security patches addressed in this bulletin. Deferred security updates will be folded in to regression testing of the listed products' next service release or major release whichever comes first.

Cisco recommends that Contact Center customers separately assess all security patches released by Microsoft and install those deemed appropriate for their environments.

Cisco will continue to provide a service of separately assessing and where necessary, validating higher severity security patches that may be relevant to the Contact Center Enterprise software products.

Visit the Microsoft website to acquire the fixes. Keep in mind that you should download the appropriate fixes based on the version of the Microsoft operating system deployed in your environment and service pack level

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

• Open a service request on Cisco.com
• By email
• By telephone

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