This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows GDI+. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted image file using affected software or browsed a Web site that contains specially crafted content. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008; and Important for Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way that GDI+ handles integer calculations when processing EMF files. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

Recommendation. Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately.