The security firm eEye has discovered one of the first security flaws to directly affect Windows Vista, a bug that it claims allows local users to escalate their privileges.
The flaw involves Windows’ system for managing user security levels, User Account Control (UAC), which was introduced with Vista. UAC is designed to limit the damage that can be caused by mass attacks such as worms by giving standard users limited privileges, a practice common with other operating systems.
Combined with a remote vulnerability, the newly discovered bug could essentially render UAC useless, escalating standard user privileges to system-level access, according to eEye.
eEye said: “A flaw exists within Windows Vista that allows local privilege escalation to System”
Read more: User-privilege flaw hits Vista
