Winter 2011: Password security standards and trendsApple Inc. released a massive security update Wednesday, fixing flaws attackers could exploit in Mac OS X and Safari to infect machines with malware and cause system crashes.
Apple Security Update 2007-008 addresses some 41 vulnerabilities, including the following:
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Michael S. Mimoso, Editorial Director
- PASV (passive) commands, FTP servers are able to cause clients to connect to other hosts. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of IP addresses.
- An issue exists in the validation of certificates. A man-in-the-middle attacker may be able to direct the user to a legitimate site with a valid SSL certificate, then redirect the user to a spoofed Web site rigged with malware. Attackers could exploit this to collect user credentials and other information. This update addresses the issue through improved validation of certificates.
- A null pointer dereference issue exists in the CFNetwork framework. By tricking a user into using a vulnerable application to connect to a malicious server, an attacker could crash the application. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of HTTP replies.
- A one-byte buffer overflow may occur in CoreFoundation when listing the contents of a directory. By enticing a user to read a maliciously crafted directory hierarchy, an attacker could crash an application or launch malicious code. This update addresses the issue by ensuring that the destination buffer is sized to contain the data.
- An uninitialized object pointer vulnerability exists in the handling of text content. By tricking a user into viewing maliciously crafted text content, an attacker could crash an application or launch malicious code. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of object pointers.
- Attackers could exploit format string and tabbed browsing implementation errors in Safari by tricking a user into opening a download file with a maliciously crafted name. By doing this, the attacker could crash the application or launch malicious code. This update addresses the issue through improved handling of format strings and improved handling of authentication sheets.