Firefox, IE Execs Spar Over Vulnerabilities
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Microsoft and Mozilla reps add to the browser blame game, each saying the other's application is responsible for multiple Windows zero-day vulnerabilities.
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At least three critical vulnerabilities are among those fixed by the most recent versions of Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird.
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A zero-day flaw in Firefox and third-party Windows patches turn up the heat for Net users. Plus: Buyout boom in security.
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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. No, that's not a typo, just the strange fall-out from an unusual bug that had security researchers debating the question this week, "Who's to blame? Microsoft or Mozilla?" Security researcher Thor LarholmÂ kicked off the controversy on Tuesday, claiming that he had discovered a flaw that would let an attacker run commands on a victim's PC. In his blog posting, Larholm said the bug was similar to a flaw he'd discovered last month in Apple's Safari 3.0 beta software, and he called it an an "input validation flaw in Internet Explorer." The problem is with a URL protocol handler component of Internet Explorer, he said. This software allows Internet Explorer users to launch applications such as Excel or Firefox by clicking on specially written links on Web pages. When Internet Explorer clicks on a link that launches the Firefox browser, however, the software does not properly check its syntax, and that, Larholm said, lets an attacker create a malicious link, that could be used in an attack. Security vendor Secunia ApS rates the flaw as "highly critical." So while the flaw affects Internet Explorer users, it appears to be a risk only to those who already have Firefox installed. And to make matters more complicated, if a Firefox user were to click on one of the specially written links, he would not be affected. Still, Microsoft Security Program Manager Mark Griesi said that the bug was not his company's problem. "We don't feel that there's an issue in IE and therefore there's nothing to be fixed," he said Tuesday. With Microsoft saying it won't fix the vulnerability, Mozilla said it would change the way its Firefox URL protocol handler worked in its next Firefox update. That will fix Larholm's bug, but Mozilla security strategist Window Snyder wouldn't say whether or not she considered the vulnerability to be an IE or Firefox problem. She did, however, point out that without Microsoft making changes to IE, other Windows programs may be at risk. Noted browser bug-hunter Aviv Raff wrote in his blog that he thought both Microsoft and Mozilla were to blame. But another security expert said that the responsibility to fix the problem lies with the open-source browser developers. "This is an oversight in how Mozilla decided to construct their protocol registration, and how they do input validation between this handler and their application," said Eric Schultze, chief security architect with Shavlik Technologies, via e-mail. "I think Mozilla needs to write and release a patch for this issue and Microsoft can take the week off."
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A vulnerability in a Java plug-in from Sun Microsystems used by most web browsers poses a risk for users of IE and alternative browsers alike.
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Makes a change from IE Critical flaws in the way Firefox handles JavaScript code create a possible means for hackers to commandeer vulnerable PCs, according to security researchers.â¦
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Ten security flaws found in Firefox browser, Thunderbird e-mail client.
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(InfoWorld) - Mozilla late yesterday patched Firefox to fix nine bugs, including the controversial critical vulnerability that involved both the open source Web browser and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Firefox 2.0.0.5, which can be downloaded in versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in 42 localized editions, fixes the "firefoxurl://" vulnerability that can be exploited only on systems where Firefox is installed but IE is the primary browser. For the past week, researchers have quarreled over whether Mozilla or Microsoft was responsible for the flaw and which company should patch its software. In the security advisory, one of eight issued yesterday that outline the nine bugs, Mozilla again refrained from expressly putting the onus on Microsoft. But as before, it came close. "Other Windows applications can be called in this way and also manipulated to execute malicious code," read the advisory. "This fix only prevents Firefox and Thunderbird from accepting bad data. This patch does not fix the vulnerability in Internet Explorer." And more blunt was the single suggested work-around. "Mozilla highly recommends using Firefox to browse the Web to prevent attackers from exploiting this problem in Internet Explorer," it said. One of the researchers who last week pinned blame on Microsoft had not changed his tune as of yesterday. "This [Firefox patch] does not actually fix the flaw in Internet Explorer, but simply patches one of the myriads of attack vectors," said Thor Larholm, a Danish researcher who publicized the exploit. "I can definitely understand the initial reaction from Microsoft. Most of the emphasis in the public vulnerability reports were dealing with Firefox, the '-chrome' command-line argument, and how to properly escape the exploit code. "However, I can still automatically launch a wide range of external applications from Internet Explorer and provide them with arbitrary command-line arguments, [including] AcroRd32.exe (Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader), aim.exe (AOL Instant Messenger), Outlook.exe, msimn.exe (Outlook Express), netmeeting.exe, HelpCtr.exe (Windows Help Center), mirc.exe, Skype.exe, wab.exe (Windows Address Book), and wmplayer.exe (Windows Media Player), just to name a few," Larholm wrote. Microsoft's position last week has been that IE is not buggy and so wouldn't be patched. "Microsoft has thoroughly investigated the claim of a vulnerability in Internet Explorer and found that this is not a vulnerability in a Microsoft product," a spokesman said last Thursday. Other patches put into place by 2.0.0.5 included multiple memory corruption bugs. "With enough effort ... some of these could be exploited to run arbitrary code," a cross-site scripting vulnerability and a flaw that could give attackers access to the browser's cache. Mozilla picked up the pace to push Firefox 2.0.0.5 out to users earlier than scheduled. On Monday, Mozilla developers pegged the update as a "fire drill release" because of the critical nature of the firefoxurl:// bug. At the time, July 19 was the target for 2.0.0.5's release. "But we might be able to accelerate the release," notes from a weekly status meeting read. This is the first update to Firefox since support for the older 1.5.x line was discontinued. Earlier this month, users of that version were offered an automatic update to Firefox 2.0.0.4.
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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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Mozilla disclosed Monday that it had opened up a vulnerability with a previous security fix for its Firefox, Seamonkey, and Thunderbird clients. According to an advisory issued Monday, a new JavaScript issue was introduced that would allow coding from Web content to be exploited to execute arbitrary code.
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Four new unpatched vulnerabilities have been published for Internet Explorer and Firefox, with two coming for each browser.
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Updated: A &quot;cumulative security update&quot; plugs eight holes in the Internet Explorer browser, while other patches address &quot;critical&quot; vulnerabilities in the Windows shell, in SMTP and elsewhere.
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The latest release of the open source Web browser Firefox has spurred millions of downloads and a groundswell of anti-Internet Explorer sentiment, but IT executives question the role Firefox will play in their enterprise environments.
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IE exploit code could boost risk of browser mishaps. Microsoft says teamwork makes for better defenses.
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News.com&#39;s John Borland lays out the issues with shelving Microsoft&#39;s insecure Internet Explorer with a non-MS brower, such as Firefox... The problem is that many Web developers create their sites so they
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Mozilla has confirmed a vulnerability in its Firefox browser that could be used by attackers to scout out a system before they undertake a more aggressive assault.
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Users of the Mozilla and Firefox browsers and the Thunderbird e-mail client may be vulnerable to flaws that could allow an attacker to spy on or take over a system, according to security researchers.