Microsoft is providing notification of the discovery and remediation of a vulnerability affecting Google Picasa for Windows version 3.6 build 105.61 and earlier. Microsoft discovered and disclosed the vulnerability under coordinated vulnerability disclosure to the affected vendor, Google Inc. Google Inc. has remediated the vulnerability in Picasa.
A vulnerability exists in the way that Picasa handles certain specially crafted JPEG images. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause Picasa to exit unexpectedly and execute arbitrary code. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.
Microsoft Vulnerability Research reported this issue to and coordinated with Google Inc. to ensure remediation of this issue. The vulnerability has been assigned the entry, CVE-2011-2747, in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list. For more information, including information about Picasa updates from Google, see Google Picasa Release Notes.