Advisory #229 - OS X (Multiple), QuickTime, Office OCX, Multiple News

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Sûnnet Beskerming Alert List Advisory #229

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Contents
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1. SECURITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 OS X (Multiple)
        - Remote Hacker Automatic Control
        - Time Since Discovery - 3 Days
1.2 QuickTime
        - Remote Hacker Automatic Control
        - Time Since Discovery - 3 Days
1.3 Office OCX
        - Remote Hacker Automatic Denial of Service
        - Time Since Discovery - 4 Days
=======================================
/*
        - Remote or Local - Can it be achieved through a network or does it  
require physical access?
        - Hacker - The bad guy
        - Manual or Automatic  - Does the vulnerability need to be manually  
performed, or can it be automated?
        - Control, Denial of Service or Data Theft - Will the hacker get  
control of your system / website, will they prevent you from using  
it, or will they steal data.
*/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    NEWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 Microsoft Security Movements
2.2 The Power of Numbers
2.3 What's In A Vulnerability
=====================================

1. SECURITY

1.1 OS X (Multiple) - Remote Hacker Manual Control

        -- Products Affected --
        OS X 10.4.9 (and Server)
        OS X 10.3.9

        -- Technical Description --
        AirPort - Minor patch for systems where connectivity was lost  
following sleep (10.3.9 only)
        FTPServer - Users with ftp access may be able to navigate to  
directories outside the normal scope. (10.4.9 Server only)
        Remainder of patch equivalent to Security Update 2007-004.

        -- Description --
        Apple have released an update to their previous Security Update  
2007-004 (now at 1.1).  This patch provides not only the contents of  
the original Update, but also a fix for a minor issue with Airport  
devices that were lost following sleep, and an FTP Server issue which  
could allow connected users to access local resources outside of  
their privileges.  Users and administrators who have not already  
applied Security Update 2007-004 have a Threat Matrix of Highly  
Critical (10), while others have a Threat Matrix of High (6).

        -- Recommended Action --
        Apply Security Update 2007-004 v 1.1 at the earliest opportunity.

        -- Source --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Updates Available --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- External Tracking Data --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Threat Matrix --
                        U O
        Home User 9 9  (Critical)
        Corporate 9 9  (Critical)


1.2 QuickTime - Remote Hacker Automatic Control

        -- Products Affected --
        Apple QuickTime 7.1.5 and earlier

        -- Technical Description --
        Heap overflow leading to arbitrary code execution in QuickTime for  
Java.  This vulnerability was used and semi-disclosed recently to  
compromise the CanSecWest test system, but full exploit code has not  
yet been released.

        -- Description --
        Apple have released QuickTime version 7.1.6 to address the semi-
disclosed vulnerability affecting QuickTime for Java that was used to  
hack into the test machine at CanSecWest 2007.  Allowing a malicious  
attacker to run software of their choice on a vulnerable system, the  
vulnerability could be used by a remote attacker to take control of  
system.

        -- Recommended Action --
        Update to QuickTime 7.1.6 at the earliest opportunity.

        -- Source --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Updates Available --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- External Tracking Data --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Threat Matrix --
                        U O
        Home User 9 9  (Critical)
        Corporate 9 9  (Critical)


1.3 Office OCX - Remote Hacker Automatic Denial of Service

        -- Products Affected --
        Word Viewer OCX 3.2
        PowerPoint Viewer OCX 3.1
        Excel Viewer OCX 3.1

        -- Technical Description --
        Numerous Denial of Service vulnerabilities have been discovered and  
disclosed with the above products from Office OCX.  Multiple methods  
within each vulnerable ActiveX control can be exploited via buffer  
overflow to provide a denial of service attack against the controls.  
While the vulnerabilities are only listed as Denial of Service at  
this time, arbitrary code execution does remain a risk.

        -- Description --
        A number of the ActiveX controls from Office OCX, used to provide  
access to Office documents in an Internet Explorer browser session,  
have been discovered to be vulnerable to attacks which could prevent  
the legitimate use of the controls by end users.

        -- Recommended Action --
        Remove the applicable Office OCX viewer ActiveX controls until  
Office OCX are able to release appropriate patches.  Alternatively,  
the killbit for the appropriate controls can be set in the Registry  
(PowerPoint Viewer - 97AF4A45-49BE-4485-9F55-91AB40F22B92; Excel  
Viewer - 18A295DA-088E-42D1-BE31-5028D7F9B965; Word Viewer -  
97AF4A45-49BE-4485-9F55-91AB40F22BF2).

        -- Source --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Updates Available --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- External Tracking Data --
        (Paid subscription required to access)

        -- Threat Matrix --
                        U O
        Home User 8 8  (Very High)
        Corporate 8 8  (Very High)

=======================================
/*
Threat Matrix:
        U - User
        O - Operator
        Harmless - 0 ----- 10 - Highly Critical
*/
=======================================

2. NEWS

2.1 Microsoft Security Movements

Within the space of a week, Microsoft suffered the indignity of  
having a subdomain defaced (ieak.microsoft.com), and also launched a  
security portal (http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal) -  which  
is not being officially launched until July.  Even though it has not  
gone completely live, the Microsoft Malware Prevention Center (as the  
portal will be known) is already shaping up as a valuable resource  
for Windows users and administrators (and those who are interested in  
Windows security).

It has been reported by the attacker that managed to deface the  
Microsoft site that the attack was carried out via an SQL injection  
opportunity, which eventually allowed them to publish content of  
their choice on the domain (and thus take it over).


2.2 The Power of Numbers

A string of only 16 hexadecimal numbers has been enough to take down  
the popular community site, Digg.com.  Following the discovery and  
subsequent dissemination of the HD-DVD AACS processing key, which  
could be used to copy HD-DVD titles, it was posted to Digg (amongst  
other sites).  Although Digg is designed to be unmoderated, the first  
posting to make the front page with the number in it was quickly  
deleted and the user who submitted it was banned.

This did not go unnoticed, and another story was quickly promoted by  
site users to take its place.  This, too, was squashed, and a rapidly  
escalating race ensued, between site maintainers (who were keen to  
suppress the story), and the site users (who were keen to see it  
published).  The users won, when the whole front page of Digg was  
devoted purely to stories with the processing key in them - either as  
the subject or worked in to the actual story.

The only thing left that site maintainers could do to restore order  
was to pull the plug and take Digg offline for a period.  The rioting  
between maintainers and site users, for a site that is dependent upon  
its users for its very existence, and the resultant site outage, has  
left a sour taste in the mouth of users and has served as an  
interesting case of how not to act and react.

How other sites handled the publication, and attempted publication of  
the set of numbers is also important when considering the pattern of  
Internet moderation and censorship.  Sites such as Slashdot did not  
publish the number in their main content, but allowed users to  
include it in their comments.  Others, such as Wikipedia, actively  
prevented any publishing or commentary about the number (though there  
are sneaky examples where the number has been inserted in otherwise  
innocuous content).  In the long run, information will settle in a  
state of openness, even if no one cares to look at it.  Valuable  
information will always attract attention when it is released.

While the actual numbers are no longer a secret, anybody who  
reproduces them could face the raw end of a Cease & Desist letter, or  
worse.


2.3 What's In A Vulnerability

Historically, vulnerabilities in ActiveX controls have been regarded  
as extremely serious, as the purpose of the controls is to allow  
applications to control other applications and data stored on the  
local system.  With Internet Explorer using ActiveX controls to allow  
remote Internet sites to access local data, the risk of remote  
compromise increases rapidly with any new vulnerability discovered  
and disclosed.

With yet another 'Month of "x" Bugs' underway - this time the 'Month  
of ActiveX Bugs', there have been some active discussions about the  
relative severity of the vulnerabilities being disclosed.

The researcher responsible for the discovery of the vulnerabilities,  
known as shinnai, has identified that the first few vulnerabilities  
disclosed are only Denial of Service vulnerabilities, causing the  
relevant ActiveX (OCX) control to crash, preventing its use.  Some  
third party Information Security vendors have identified the reports  
as arbitrary remote code execution risks, instead.

While it is a definite risk that a Denial of Service vulnerability  
may become an arbitrary code execution vulnerability (such as the  
onload() problem faced by Internet Explorer), at this stage the  
threats have only been identified and listed as Denial of Service  
issues.  Even though the vulnerabilities identify memory overflows,  
and multiple vulnerable paths have been identified, they only result  
in DoS conditions.

=======================================

Sincerely,

Sûnnet Beskerming Team
info@...
Sûnnet Beskerming Pty. Ltd.
Adelaide, Australia
http://www.beskerming.com
Tel: [phone]

** Sûnnet Beskerming Pty. Ltd. **

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