Adobe 'Out Of Band' CRITICAL Updates Parade: Acrobat and Reader v9.3.4

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And the parade marches on. At last we have the latest in CRITICAL Adobe security hole updates. This time the updates are for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. GET THEM NOW!

Because the process of getting to actual download links at the Adobe site is a huge PITA, here are direct URLs for English Intel Mac users. Send me virtual luv:

Acrobat Reader v9.3.4 update

Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 Pro update

The general update page for all other users and versions is HERE.

What's so CRITICAL? The update's security bulletin is HERE.

To quote Adobe:

These updates address CVE-2010-2862, which was discussed at the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. They also incorporate the Adobe Flash Player update as noted in Security Bulletin APSB10-16.

My summary:

1) The updates patch memory corruption vulnerabilities that could lead to hacked code execution on your Mac and/or program crashes. IOW its more of the same old buffer overflow problem that plagues current computer coding in general. (As found in CVE-2010-2862).

Quoting from the CVE:

Integer overflow in CoolType.dll in Adobe Reader 8.2.3 and 9.3.3, and Acrobat 9.3.3, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a TrueType font with a large maxCompositePoints value in a Maximum Profile (maxp) table.

2) They solve a social engineering attack security hole via PDF files that could lead to hacked code execution on your Mac. (As found in CVE-2010-1240).

Quoting from the CVE:

Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3.3, and 8.x before 8.2.3 on Windows and Mac OS X, do not restrict the contents of one text field in the Launch File warning dialog, which makes it easier for remote attackers to trick users into executing an arbitrary local program that was specified in a PDF document, as demonstrated by a text field that claims that the Open button will enable the user to read an encrypted message.

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BTW: Looking up CVE reports is easy, if snooze inducing. Just go to the National Vulnerability Database site (at the National Institute of Standards and Technology) and search on the CVE number. Here is the URL to get you started:

National Vulnerability Database (NVD) Search Vulnerabilities

And now for a rant:

If you're wondering why these simple and specific CVE searches take a long time (zzzzz) to resolve, it's the decrepit US government. It's Microsoft Windows. It's ancient old PCs the government is too cheap to replace, cranking away on stuff that takes any modern Mac a microsecond. (But of course, the government did manage to fund the infamous 'Bridge To Nowhere' in Alaska, hardy har har, porky pork, oinky oink, so long Ted Stevens you parasite).

I was once offered a job at the Department of Wildlife. I took one look at their computers and wondered what would be the appropriate response: Running away screaming OR sauntering out laughing?

In any case, if you've ever wondered why it's so incredibly easy for The Red Hacker Alliance in Red China and other such scum to hack into US government computers, look no further for your answer. Much as I hated the Bush League, much as I'd like to support the Obama Era, this stupid state of affairs continues. Note the fact that the Obama Administration hired ex-Microsoft executives and coders to help them solve their computer security crisis. That's right! They hired the CAUSE of the problem to SOLVE the problem.
(o_0)

Hmm. What would be the appropriate response? I'll leave it to you to decide.

CUL8R!
Stay safe.
Stay secure.
Don't touch my cookies.

;-Derek
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Firefox Add-On Security Alert! Mozilla Sniffer, CoolPreviews, Master Filer

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Graham Cluley at Sophos.com has provided a great article at his blog about BAD Add-Ons for Firefox. The most recent is nasty spyware, another is infected with a spyware Trojan horse, and the last has a potentially dangerous security hole that could lead to PWNing your machine:

Mozilla pulls password-sniffing Firefox add-on

All of these Firefox Add-Ons have been blocked from distribution by Mozilla. But if you happen to have them laying around or have installed them: Kill them.

Mozilla Sniffer: It has been available since June 6, 2010. It spies on Internet passwords you enter in Firefox and sends them to nefarious fiends.

Master Filer: The infected version has been available since earlier in 2010. It is infected with the LdPinch Trojan horse, which also steals your Internet passwords and sends them to nefarious fiends.

CoolPreviews: Versions 1.0 through 3.0.1 have a demonstrated security vulnerability that could allow run malicious code on your computer. (Sounds like a typical buffer overflow problem). Proof-of-concept code has been created that demonstrates how to perform the hack. Therefore, it is critical to update to the latest version of CoolPreviews.

There have been other BAD Add-Ons as well, all of which Mozilla have blocked from distribution.

As a side note:

This same sort of problem has been plaguing the Android community whereby anyone can post anything as an application, including crapware and malware. As with Mozilla, Google have no formal system for approving or filtering bad software apart from reports from users. Therefore, it is likely that a number of people are going to be victims of BAD software before it is removed from distribution.

To be honest, this lack of formal software scrutiny system is what we are all used to in the general computer community. The best workarounds have been the use of websites like MacUpdate, VersionTracker, TuCows, MajorGeeks, etc., where either the site managers or other users have tried and rated the software.

For better or worse, Apple now use a formal scrutiny system at their App Store for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. If you download a CrapApp onto your iOS device, you can point fingers at Apple for messing up. Microsoft have had a copycat scrutiny system for their Zune thing app store and plan the same thing for their Windows Phone 7ista OS thingies. Meanwhile, for all other devices, it is that mean old adage: Caveat emptor, IOW Downloader Beware.
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Mac Attacks @ Black Hat USA 2009

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BWAHAHAHA!

It's time for the second Black Hat Technical Security Conference of the year, this one being held in Los Vegas, NV. Where else! I wonder how much money casinos will lose to participants after hours.

The conference runs July 25 through July 30. I'll be keeping an eye on Mac related revelry. Here are a couple announced Mac security events, researched and presented of course by two of our greatest Mac hackers, Dino Dai Zovi and Dr. Charlie Miller. My anti-heroes. *sw00n*

DINO DAI ZOVI

Advanced Mac OS X Rootkits

The Mac OS X kernel (xnu) is a hybrid BSD and Mach kernel. While Unix-oriented rootkit techniques are pretty well known, Mach-based rootkit techniques have not been as thoroughly publicly explored. This presentation will cover a variety of rootkit techniques for both user-space and kernel-space rootkits using unique and poorly understood or documented Mac OS X and Mach features.

Macsploitation with Metasploit

While Metasploit has had a number of Mac exploits for several years, the exploit payloads available have done little more than give a remote shell. These payloads are significantly simpler than the DLL-injection based payloads for Windows-based targets like the Meterpreter and VNC Inject payloads. This talk will cover the development and use of the fancier Metasploit Mac payloads developed by Dino Dai Zovi (the presenter) and Charlie Miller, including bundle injection, iSight photo capture, and Macterpreter.

Here is Dino's bio from the site:

Dino Dai Zovi
Endgame Systems

Dino Dai Zovi has been working in information security for over 9 years with experience in red teaming, penetration testing, and software security assessments at Sandia National Laboratories, @stake, and Matasano Security. Mr. Dai Zovi is also a regular speaker at information security conferences including presentations of his research on MacOS X security, hardware virtualization assisted rootkits using Intel VT-x, 802.11 wireless client security, and offensive security techniques at BlackHat USA, Microsoft BlueHat, CanSecWest, the USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technology, and DEFCON. He is a co-author of "The Mac Hacker's Handbook" (Wiley 2008) and "The Art of Software Security Testing" (Addison-Wesley Professional 2006). He is perhaps best known in the information security and Mac communities for discovering the vulnerability and writing the exploit to win the first PWN2OWN contest at CanSecWest 2007.

Also featured is a talk by Kostya Kortchinsky on how to use breakout vulnerabilites in VMWare virtualization software for Mac to hack into the host machine. And that's bad. Kostya works in France and is infamous for being first to exploit announced Microsoft vulnerabilities.

Some other somewhat Mac relevant subjects that will be presented:

• BitTorrent Hacks - Michael Brooks and David Aslanian
• Reversing and Exploiting and Apple� Firmware Update [for an Apple aluminum keyboard] - K. Chen

And of course an array of new PHP and SQL vulnerability hacks. What, no Microsoft exploits? There's no fooling you! Of course there are! And let's not forget exploitation of ye olde Intel� BIOS, Oracle, parking meters, iPhones, routers, and the US federal government. Included is an in depth discussion of the Windows worm of the year, Conficker. The favorite subject this year appears to be rootkits. The Pwnie Awards will be announced July 29th. There's fun for everyone.
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Adobe Shockwave Player v11.5.0.600 & Apple vs. Java Insecurity

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In its recent attempt to get serious about application security, last week Adobe released Shockwave Player v11.5.0.600 for Mac. Oddly, they released the Windows version a week later. I say oddly because Mac versions of Adobe software are almost always late. It's amusing to see a swap for a change. Now if only Adobe would release the many years delayed 64 bit versions of their applications. Hint hint Adobe.

MacWorld messed up today (6/24) and reported that the Adobe security bulletin about the Windows version 11.5.0.600 of Shockwave Player had anything to do with the Mac version. So I posted a reply comment, which you'll find below. After I posted my comment I visited the Adobe site to find any news about the Mac version. There isn't any. I did however learn that Shockwave Player is compatible with Mac OS X Tiger. That's good to know. I dug around in the installer package and found nothing there as well. If you find anything relevant to Mac security improvements in Shockwave Player v11.5.0.600, please leave a comment.

Here is my comment to MacWorld regarding Adobe Shockwave Player. It is also relevant to Apple's slow poke response to Java security problems:

A couple points:

1) The Adobe Security Bulletin (it's not a blog) is specific to the Windows version ONLY, which apparently was just finished and released. The Mac version of Adobe Shockwave Player v11.5.0.600 was released a week ago on June 16th. Adobe didn't post a security bulletin for the Mac version. And that means what?!

2) bousozoku sez: "Adobe seems to be the only company slower than Apple at taking care of security concerns."

Adobe's attention to security went into deep decline until this past month.

In the meantime, Apple have been improving their attention to security exponentially over the last couple years. It appears to be in response to both the moronic anti-Apple security FUD-fest instigated by Symantec in August 2005, and the White Hat focus on Apple security bugs and vulnerabilities. As is typical with Apple, drag them through the press and they respond.

Where Apple recently fell on their face was with regards to a slew of vulnerabilities in the mess known as Java. Apple were over 6 months behind in Java patches. Sadly, Apple's incredibly slow response to Java updates is consistent. Never has Apple had a serious Java team. Of course one reason is that Apple has to do ALL the work to provide Mac OS X Java updates. Sun provides nothing.

Meanwhile, despite Microsoft's outright hatred of all things Java, to the extent that they were found guilty in court of attempting to destroy Java via their J++ monstrosity, Sun Microsystems write and provide all Windows Java updates. Microsoft never has to lift a finger. That is the single sole reason Windows gets Java updates before Mac OS X. Hey thanks Sun. Sorry you're dead.

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Microsoft Senior Security Architect Said WHAT?!

Someone needs a good spanking and a time out for bad behavior. He's considered to be a professional computer security expert, (so it's not me!).

This afternoon I was checking out the Intego Mac Security Blog and read about interviews ZDNet Australia had done with security specialists regarding the question "Do Mac Users Need Antivirus Software?" (They got the software category wrong as usual. It's anti-malware, not 'anti-virus'. I'll go down in history as the curmudgeon who chanted this fact to the grave, and nobody cared. Poor me). So I clicked over to ZDNet OZ, read their article and watched the video, found HERE.

In the video, note the fellow in the white shirt with a British accent. That's Greg Singh from RSA. As Intego point out, Singh is incorrect to say Mac users will have to get used to the degradation in performance caused by anti-malware applications. He could be talking specifically about Symantec's Norton Antivirus for Mac, in which case no one could argue with him. He also insinuates that Apple have said Mac OS X is not susceptible to 'viruses'. Oops, I think he got his Apples mixed up. He must have meant Apple Corps, the folks who make Beatles CDs. Yeah, I'd agree that Beatles recordings are not susceptible to viruses. **snicker**

Then there's the guy in the black t-shirt and hat reading 'ULTIMATE-DEFENCE". That's Rocky Heckman from Microsoft. He has the title of "Microsoft Senior Security Architect". I was freaked at what was coming out of his mouth. First he thinks BSD is something new to Mac OS X Tiger. He was born yesterday. Then he says that because BSD is part of Mac OS X, hackers are now realizing they can write 'viruses' for it, "and there have been a couple out there." He's from the Bizarro World. There are no viruses for Mac OS X. There are only Trojans, and he knows the difference. I wrote a ripping comment about Mr. Heckman over at the ZDNet OZ site. See below.

Then there's an Australian fellow in a white striped shirt with a big pad and marker hanging around his neck. I don't know his name, sorry. His odd statement, if you listen carefully, is that anti-malware products for Mac OS X are 'immature'. Based on what information? Based on ignorance. Very strange.

OK, so where were all these incorrect people when they were interviewed? The AusCERT 2009 IT Security Conference. The mind boggles.

Here is the concerned comment I wrote to ZDNet Australia regarding the statements of Mr. Heckman from Microsoft:

Microsoft Senior Security Architect Said WHAT?!

"Microsoft senior security architect Rocky Heckman said AV became necessary when Apple in 2001 decided to underpin OS X Tiger with the BSD operating system because it made Macs an easier platform to write malicious code for."

Why did anyone ask Mr. Heckman his opinion? We certainly have no reason to care. Windows is the single LEAST secure operating system, commercial or Open Source, available on the planet.

Why Heckman's opinion is lunatic:

1) Apple didn't decide to underpin Tiger with BSD. NeXT decided to underpin NeXTStep with BSD decades ago! Mac OS X inherited it when Apple decided to make NeXTStep/OpenStep the foundation for Rhapsody, which was then developed into Mac OS X.

2) The three most secure operating systems on the planet have been repeatedly proven to be:
A) OpenBSD
B) FreeBSD
C) Mac OS X
Mac OS X incorporates elements of both OpenBSD and FreeBSD into it's core OS called Darwin OS. So what Mr. Heckman it talking about is incomprehensible. He is either a blithering idiot or is pulling a FUD manoeuvre by telling the opposite of the truth in order to fool the public that black is white, war is peace, hate is love, the usual doublespeak routine from the book '1984'. Shame on Mr. Heckman.

This has to be one of the most dishonest statements from a Microsoft executive of all time. It's running neck-and-neck with Bill Gates' moronic statement that Mac OS X is exploited everyday, when it fact it is HIS operating system that is exploited every day.

Or maybe there's lead in the water over at Redmond. (o_0)

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Update: The State Of Trojan OSX.RSPlug, aka the 'Porno Trojan'

The net-cracker effort to bring the 'RSPlug' Trojan horse from Windows over to Mac OS X continues apace. As of this week we are now up to version E, aka Trojan OSX.RSPlug.E. Again, this Trojan is showing up at scam pornography websites.

The difference with variants D and E, however, are particularly nefarious. Instead of the Trojan itself being the full payload of malware, it downloads the actual payload from the Internet. This means the Trojan can install literally anything into your system. It's not just for DNS forwarding phishing scams any more.

Of course, it will be possible to kill off the payload Internet sites one by one as sub-variants of D & E pop up. But once infected, a Mac could theoretically become zombied, which these days is the prime goal of net-crackers. Botnets can make big money. As was popularly reported last week, the taking down of one particular bot wrangler killed off as much as 70% of SPAM distribution for a few days. That's a massive botnet. Imagine the profit the bot wrangler was pulling in. Sadly, the botnet involved remained intact and another bot-wrangler stepped in to take advantage of it, restoring SPAM to its usual blasting volume.

You can read the details about Trojan OSX.RSPlug.E over at Intego's website.

One hilarious flagging giveaway of this Trojan is the continued laziness of the developers' social engineering method. Instead of altering their tease line to potential wetware victims, they left it exactly the same as the Windows version. This means that anyone who is both Mac and Windows savvy will realize immediately that something screwy is going on. The blunder is the tease line "Video ActiveX Object Error". For those who don't know, ActiveX is a scripting monstrosity perpetrated by Microsoft several years back. Yeah, it was another of their attempts to make the Internet proprietary. ActiveX is entirely irrelevant on Mac OS X, thank goodness, as it is a gigantic, wide open door for malware infection on Windows. The only web browser on Mac capable of running ActiveX rubbish is FireFox, and you have to specifically install an ActiveX extension. Therefore, for the moment, if you run into a "Video ActiveX Object Error" on a website, you have just run into an attempt to infect you with the Trojan OSX.RSPlug.
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