Microsoft has released a new build of Windows Media Player 9 – 9.0.0.3008.
This was necessary to fix a security issue. With Windows Media Player 9 Series,
a flaw in an ActiveX control might permit a Web page to gain access to your
Media Library. An attacker who exploits this flaw can gain access only to manipulate
the Media Library on your computer. The attacker cannot browse your hard disk
and cannot gain access to passwords or encrypted data. Also, the attacker cannot
modify actual files on the hard disk; the attacker can modify only the contents
of the Media Library entries for those files.
Technical description:
An ActiveX control included with Windows Media Player 9 Series allows Web
page authors to create Web pages that can play media and provide a user interface
by which the user can control playback. When a user visits a Web page with embedded
media, the ActiveX control provides a user interface that allows the user to
take such actions as pausing or rewinding the media.
A flaw exists in the way in which the ActiveX control provides access to information
on the user’s computer. A vulnerability exists because an attacker could invoke
the ActiveX control from script code, which would allow the attacker to view
and manipulate metadata contained in the media library on the user’s computer.
To exploit this flaw, an attacker would have to host a malicious Web site that
contained a Web page designed to exploit this vulnerability, and then persuade
a user to visit that siteâ€â€an attacker would have no way to force a user to the
site. An attacker could also embed a link to the malicious site in an HTML e-mail
and send it to the user. After the user previewed or opened the e-mail, the
malicious site could be visited automatically without further user interaction.
The attacker would only have access to manipulate the media library on the
user’s computer. The attacker would not be able to browse the user’s hard disk
and would not have access to passwords or encrypted data. The attacker would
not be able to modify files on the user’s hard disk, but could modify the contents
of any Media Library entries associated with those files. The attacker might
also be able to determine the user name of the logged-on user by examining the
directory paths to media files.
Source: W2S
Related Posts
No related posts.
9Down