Claim: A form of malware can be activated by prompting Internet Explorer users to press the F1 key.
OUTDATED
Example: [Collected via e-mail, March 2010]
Microsoft has issued a warning against a new virus that they do not yet have a patch
So ... DO NOT press F1 if you are prompted - no matter how many times. Evidently, it will pester you repeatedly. Either X out of the window or Explorer all together.
Thanks for your diligence in keeping these viruses to a minimum.
Origins: As noted in a 1 March 2010 Microsoft Security Advisory, a vulnerability in VBScript opened the door to a potential Windows-based exploit tied to luring users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser software into pressing the
The vulnerability exists in the way that VBScript interacts with Windows Help files when using Internet Explorer. If a malicious Web site displayed a specially crafted dialog box and a user pressed the F1 key, arbitrary code could be executed in the security context of the currently logged-on user. On systems running Windows Server 2003, Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration is enabled by default, which helps to mitigate against this issue.
Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a vulnerability in VBScript that is exposed on supported versions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 through the use of Internet Explorer. Our investigation has shown that the vulnerability cannot be exploited on
However, this vulnerability was addressed in an April 2010 Microsoft
Last updated: 5 July 2010