Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Microsoft Windows, which can be exploited to cause a DoS (Denial of Service), gain escalated privileges, or compromise a vulnerable system.

1) Missing restrictions on several Window Management API functions can be exploited via a malicious program to change the properties of other programs running with higher privileges.

This may allow malicious, local users to change the properties of a privileged process in a way that allows escalation of the user's privileges.

2) An error in the way memory is referenced in the component used for handling the VDM (Virtual DOS Machine) subsystem can be exploited to access protected kernel memory.

This may allow a malicious, local users to gain kernel level privileges via a specially crafted program.

3) A boundary error in the Graphics Rendering Engine when handling WMF (Windows Metafile) and EMF (Enhanced Metafile) images can be exploited to cause a buffer overflow via a specially crafted image.

This can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system, but requires that a user is tricked into opening a malicious image or visit a malicious web site.

This vulnerability may be related to:
SA10968

4) An error in the Windows Kernel related to the way some values in CPU data structures are reset can be exploited by malicious, local users to cause a DoS via a specially crafted program.

Solution
Apply patches.
Further details available to Secunia VIM customers

Provided and/or discovered by
1) Brett Moore, Security-Assessment.com.
2) Derek Soeder, eEye Digital Security.
3) Patrick Porlan and Mark Russinovich
4) hlt

Changelog
Further details available to Secunia VIM customers

Original Advisory
MS04-032 (KB840987):
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms04-032.mspx

eEye Digital Security:
http://www.eeye.com/html/research/advisories/AD20041012.html

Security-Assessment.com:
http://www.security-assessment.com/Papers/SetWindowLong_Shatter_Attacks.pdf

Other references
Further details available to Secunia VIM customers

Deep Links
Links available to Secunia VIM customers