Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/01/16/fsecure_fixes_scanner_glitch/
F-Secure fixes scanner glitch
Small earthquake in Finland, not many dead
Posted in Security, 16th January 2002 00:09 GMT
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F-Secure has discovered a bug that can cause system crashes on Windows machines loaded with its antivirus software. In real life, the flaw is very rare - only three customer sightings in a year. Today the company has issued a fix.
The flaw involves the way F-Secure Anti-Virus version 5.30 deals with "certain combinations of strange or unusual characters", which can (theoretically) be a problem when a user tries to save a HTML file using Word.
If the file contains complex and long hyperlinks there's a small possibility that it will "blue-screen" a Windows machine running F-Secure Anti-Virus version 5.30.
Although the problem is rare, the impact is potentially severe. F-Secure has made a hotfix available, which addresses the complex filename saving bug, along with other issues.
The Finnish firm urges customers to review its advisory [1] before deciding whether they need to apply the patch. ®