Pop-up blocker problem found in Firefox browser
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The Firefox browser is vulnerable to a flaw related to its pop-up blocker technology that could give access to local files, security analysts said.
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Mozilla is investigating hacker claims that the Web browser has a serious flaw in the way it handles JavaScript.
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InfoWorld - A security researcher has found a security bug that could be attacked in Internet Explorer. Mozilla said it plans to patch the problem in its next Firefox software update.
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Mozilla is working to fix a browser flaw that could give attackers unauthorized access to data on a victim&#39;s machine.The problem is similar to other&#160;data leakage&#160;flaws found in the open-source browser, according to researcher Gerry Eisenhaur, who first reported the problem on Saturday.Eisenhaur has posted sample code that reads the contents of a Mozilla Thunderbird preferences file, but he believes that attackers could get access to more information with variations on his attack. &quot;It&#39;s possible to load any JavaScript file on a victim&#39;s machine,&quot; he wrote in his blog posting. &quot;This looks very interesting and may have bigger potential, but for now, it&#39;s just another information disclosure [flaw].&quot;&quot;It could become something more if there was an application that stored sensitive data inside JavaScript files,&quot; he said via instant message. &quot;Some plugins have been known to store usernames and passwords.&quot;&quot;Its also just a powerful way to do recon,&quot; he added.Hackers have discovered a number of flaws in recent months that take advantage of the way that browsers pass information between different components within the Windows operating system. Some of these URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) protocol handler flaws have led to serious security problems for both Firefox and Internet Explorer.This latest flaw affects only certain Firefox add-ons, such as the Download Statusbar or Greasemonkey, which store scripts in a fashion that lets them be discovered on the hard drive, said Window Snyder, Mozilla&#39;s security chief in a Wednesday blog posting.Firefox is investigating the issue and has rated it as a low-severity problem, she said.
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(InfoWorld) - Makers of some of the most popular extension software used by the Firefox browser are not doing enough to secure their software, a security researcher said Wednesday. The problem is that many widely used Firefox extensions, including toolbars from Google, Yahoo, and AOL, do not use secure connections to update themselves, according to Christopher Soghoian, a security researcher who blogged about the issue on Wednesday. Soghoian is best known as the researcher who attracted the attention of the FBI late last year after publishing a tool that could be used to print fake boarding passes. The Indiana University doctoral student discovered the Firefox issue last month while examining network traffic on his computer. He noticed that many of the most popular Firefox extensions are not hosted on servers that use the SSL Web protocol. SSL Web sites, which begin with "https://," use digital certificates to provide users with some level of assurance that they're not connecting with a fake server. Although the corporation behind Firefox, Mozilla, hosts the majority of Firefox extensions on its own SSL-enabled Web site, it is common for commercial extension-makers like Google to host their software on an unsecured site, Soghoian said in an interview. This leaves users vulnerable to a "man-in-the middle" attack, where Firefox could be tricked into downloading malicious software from a site it mistakenly thought was hosting an extension. It wouldn't be easy for an attacker to pull this off, however. In one scenario, the hacker would set up a malicious wireless access point in a public area where people are using wireless connections. He could then redirect extension update traffic to a malicious computer. "An attacker who sets up a wireless access point can then infect anyone who connects to it," Soghoian said. The Del.icio.us Extension, Facebook Toolbar, Ask.com Toolbar, LinkedIn Browser Toolbar, Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar, and PhishTank SiteChecker are also vulnerable to this issue, Soghoian said. Though Soghoian said Firefox users should avoid extensions that are not from the secure Firefox add-ons site, not all security researchers see this as a major issue. "It's just yet another vulnerable design among billions,"said Gadi Evron, security evangelist for Beyond Security. "I don't see it as that critical. There is no inherent vulnerability, but it does make the over-whole design weaker, and that should probably be addressed" Evron said it was "silly" that sites weren't using SSL for these extensions. Soghoian said he notified Google, Yahoo, and Facebook of the issue in mid-April, but nobody had addressed the issue as of Wednesday. Just hours after Soghoian went public with his findings, Google said it would "soon" have a fix for the problem. It's common for Web developers to ignore security in the rush to push out new and cool features, Soghoian said. "Your average Web 2.0 developer doesn't learn about security," he said. "Google has a spectacular security team ... my suspicion is that one hand wasn't talking to the other."
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Blog: Updates address some critical vulnerabilities in the popular browser.
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Google is working to fix a bug in the Google Toolbar that could allow criminals to steal data or install malicious software on a system, a security researcher warned Tuesday.The flaw lies in the mechanism Google Toolbar uses to add new buttons on the browser. Because the toolbar does not perform adequate checks when new buttons are being installed, a hacker could make his button appear as though it was being downloaded from a legitimate site when in fact it came from somewhere else. By spoofing the origin of the toolbar button, an attacker could download malicious files or launch a phishing attack against the victim, wrote security researcher Aviv Raff in a blog post on the issue.Raff has posted proof of concept code, showing how such an attack would work with the Internet Explorer browser. A Google spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that the company is working to fix the problem.The attack requires many steps. First, the victim would have to be tricked into clicking on a Web link that would then pop up a window asking the user if he wants to install a custom button on his toolbar. Because of the flaw, this alert could look like it was downloading the button from a legitimate site, such as Google.com, even if it were not. Once the button was installed on the toolbar, the victim would then have to click on it and, finally, agree to download and run an executable file for the malicious software to be installed.Because the user would have to go through so many steps in order to fall victim to the attack, the bug isn&#39;t a critical one, said Marc Maiffret, an independent security researcher. &quot;While it is interesting, it&#39;s probably a low threat compared to other flaws out there,&quot; he said.Still, it was sloppy work on Google&#39;s part to miss such a simple attack, he said. &quot;They should definitely assess how it slipped through the cracks,&quot; he said.This is not the first obvious Google flaw that Raff has found. Last month, he showed how a simple Web programming error on the Google.com Web site could allow attackers to launch what&#39;s known as a cross-site scripting attack.Because Google&#39;s programmers didn&#39;t properly check the HTML generated by the Google search engine, Raff was able to create a specially crafted Google link that, when clicked by the victim, would trick the browser into running unauthorized scripting code. This type of link could be used to steal the victim&#39;s Google account or conduct phishing attacks, Raff saidThis error was fixed by Google just hours after Raff notified the company of the problem, but a demo of the flaw being exploited can be seen online.
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Add-ons add security threat A security weakness in the update mechanism for third-party add-ons to the Firefox browser could give an attacker the ability to exploit unsecured downloads and install malicious code on the victim's computer, a security researcher warned on Wednesday.â¦
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If you can't get Firefox to use the new version of the Flash player, you've come to the right place. I just got finished fighting with Flash and Firefox. It was a long fight, but I won.
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An independent researcher finds an Internet Explorer vulnerability that could turn drag-and-drop into drag-and-infect.
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Fixes made for "critical" JavaScript vulnerability in the Firefox browser and the SeaMonkey application suite.
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Firefox 1.0 Available Today  Firefox 1.0 (Preview Release) is now available. If you've never tried this wonderful browser it's MORE THAN worthy of your attention. What's new in this release?  - Improved pop-up blocker: new pop-up blocker blocks even more pop-ups while making it easy to view pop-ups when necessary.  - Security improvements: ...
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A critical hole in Windows XP firewall in Service Pack 2 makes computers accessible to anyone on the network. The configuration problem only affects dial-up users: some dialling software mistakes the entire
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(InfoWorld) - Mozilla updated the preview of Firefox 3.0 to alpha 8 Thursday, unveiling for the first time to users several security features it has talked up for months. Among the security provisions debuting in the new alpha of "Gran Paradiso," the code name for Firefox 3.0, are built-in anti-malware warnings and protection against rogue extension updates, according to documentation Mozilla posted to its Web site. The malware blocker, which was first mocked up in June, will block Web sites thought to contain malicious downloads. The feature, a companion to the phishing site alert system in the current Firefox 2.0, will use information provided by Google to flag potentially-dangerous sites, warn anyone trying to reach those URLs with Firefox, and automatically block access to the site. Mozilla also pointed to a URL that demonstrates the new malware blocker for alpha 8 users. Also taking a bow is a check meant to prevent plug-ins' automatic updates from sending users to malicious sites where they might be infected by attack code or drive-by downloads. Firefox relies on small plug-ins -- called "extensions" in the Mozilla vernacular -- for much of its power and flexibility. Several thousand extensions have been written, the vast bulk of them by outside developers, that do everything from boost browsing speed to block irritating Flash animations. Firefox regularly checks to see if the installed extensions are up to date, and, if not, automatically pulls in the newest version and installs it. "Firefox automatically checks for updates to add-ons using a URL specified in the add-on's install manifest," Mozilla spells out in a developer's document. "Currently there are no requirements placed on these URLs. In particular, [they are not] required to be https. This allows either the update manifest or the update package to be compromised, potentially resulting in the injection of malicious updates. A demonstration of one form of compromise is already public." Most extensions are hosted on Mozilla's own servers -- at the servers feeding its Add-ons site -- but some are not; it's those off-site extensions that Mozilla wants to lock down. To stymie attacks through a compromised extension update, Mozilla will require updates -- both the actual update package and the much smaller "manifest," or notification of an update -- to be delivered over an SSL-secured connection. Or the update must be digitally signed. The change doesn't affect the initial installation of an extension, something Mozilla recognized. "[This] has no impact on the security of initial add-on installs," it told developers in the online guide. This newest preview, which can be downloaded in versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux from the Mozilla site, still comes with a warning to end-users. "Alpha 8 is intended for Web application developers and our testing community. Current users of Mozilla Firefox should not use Gran Paradiso Alpha 8," the browser's release notes. Mozilla has not officially committed to a release date for the final version of Firefox 3.0. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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A flaw in Mozilla&#8217;s Firefox browser makes it easy for cybercriminals to steal user information on Web sites where users create their own pages, such as MySpace.com.
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(InfoWorld) - A vulnerability in Ask.com's toolbar for Internet Explorer could allow an attacker to take control of a person's computer, according to security advisories. The problem concerns a buffer overflow flaw in the toolbar and involves an ActiveX control, according to an advisory posted by security vendor Secunia APS, which rated the problem as "highly critical," its second most severe rating. It affects version 4.0.2 of the toolbar and possibly others. Proof-of-concept exploit code for the vulnerability has been publicly posted on other disclosure forums, with a person named "Joey Mengele" credited with finding the flaw. Ask.com officials contacted in London were not immediately able to comment. The Ask.com toolbar sits below the address bar and can perform a variety of category-specific searches, such as weather information, stock quotes, or search a person's desktop as well as regular Web searching. As of Tuesday afternoon local time,Â WabiSabi Labi, a Swiss company that specializes in selling vulnerability information, was still auctioning the Ask.com toolbar problem for minimum of â¬500 ($705), although no bids were listed. WabiSabi Labi's auctioning of security vulnerabilities has caused a stir among security analysts who believe software companies should be discreetly notified of vulnerabilities and allowed to patch the software so as to not put users in danger. The company maintains security researchers should be rewarded for their work.
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Security have warned about a new Web browser security hole which could allow scammers to launch phishing attacks from pop-up windows on trusted websites.