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    • Posts Tagged: mac os x

    Latest Warnings / Time to Patch — 41 Comments
    30
    Nov 11

    Public Java Exploit Amps Up Threat Level

    An exploit for a recently disclosed Java vulnerability that was previously only available for purchase in the criminal underground has now been rolled into the open source Metasploit exploit framework. Metasploit researchers say the Java attack tool has been tested to successfully deliver payloads on a variety of platforms, including the latest Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

    On Monday, I disclosed how the Java exploit is being sold on cybercrime forums and incorporated into automated crimeware kits like BlackHole. Since then, security researchers @_sinn3r and Juan Vasquez have developed a module for Metasploit that makes the attack tool available to penetration testers and malicious hackers alike. According to a post on the Metasploit blog today, the Java vulnerability “is particularly pernicious, as it is cross-platform, unpatched on some systems, and is an easy-to-exploit client-side that does little to make the user aware they’re being exploited.”

    Metasploit also posted the results of testing the exploit against a variety of browsers and platforms, and found that it worked almost seamlessly to compromise systems across the board, from the latest 64-bit Windows 7 machines to Mac OS X and even Linux systems.

    This development should not be taken lightly by any computer user. According to Sun’s maker Oracle, more than three billion devices run Java. What’s more, Java vulnerabilities are by some accounts the most popular exploit paths for computer crooks these days. On Monday, Microsoft’s Tim Rains published a blog post noting that the most commonly observed type of exploits in the first half of 2011 were those targeting vulnerabilities in Oracle (formerly Sun Microsystems) Java Runtime Environment (JRE), Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and Java SE in the Java Development Kit (JDK).

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    Latest Warnings / The Coming Storm / Web Fraud 2.0 — 51 Comments
    2
    May 11

    ‘Weyland-Yutani’ Crime Kit Targets Macs for Bots

    A new crimeware kit for sale on the criminal underground makes it a simple point-and-click exercise to develop malicious software designed to turn Mac OSX computers into remotely controllable zombie bots. According to the vendor of this kit, it is somewhat interchangeable with existing crimeware kits made to attack Windows-based PCs.

    The Mac malware builder in action.

    KrebsOnSecurity has spilled a great deal of digital ink covering the damage wrought by ZeuS and SpyEye, probably the most popular crimeware kits built for Windows. A crimeware kit is a do-it-yourself package of tools that allow users to create custom versions of a malicious software strain capable of turning machines into bots that can be remotely controlled and harvested of financial and personal data. The bot code, generated by the crimeware kit’s “builder” component, typically is distributed via social engineering attacks in email and social networking sites, or is foisted by an exploit pack like Eleonore or Blackhole, which use hacked Web sites and browser flaws to quietly install the malware. Crimeware kits also come with a Web-based administration panel that allows the customer to manage and harvest data from infected PCs.

    Crimekit makers have focused almost exclusively on the Windows platform, but today Danish IT security firm CSIS Security Group blogged about a new kit named the Weyland-Yutani BOT that is being marketed as the first of its kind to attack the Mac OS X platform.

    The seller of this crimeware kit claims his product supports form-grabbing in Firefox and Chrome, and says he plans to develop a Linux version and one for the iPad in the months ahead. The price? $1,000, with payment accepted only through virtual currencies Liberty Reserve or WebMoney.

    The CSIS blog post contains a single screen shot of this kit’s bot builder, and references a demo video but doesn’t show it. I wanted to learn more about this kit, and so contacted the seller via a Russian language forum where he was advertising his wares.

    The author said he is holding off on including Safari form-grabbing capability for now, complaining that there are “too many problems in that browser.” Still, he was kind enough to share a copy of a video that shows the kit’s builder and admin panel in action. Click the video link below to check that out.

    ZeuS and SpyEye are popular in part because they support a variety of so-called “Web injects,” third-party plug-ins that let botmasters manipulate the content that victims see in their Web browsers. The most popular Web injects are designed to slightly alter the composition of various online banking Web sites in a bid to trick the victim customer into supplying additional identifying information that can be used later on to more fully compromise or hijack the account. According to the author, Web injects developed for ZeuS and SpyEye also are interchangeable with this Mac crimekit. “They need to be formatted and tagged, but yes, you can use Zeus injects with this bot,” he told me in an instant message conversation.

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    Time to Patch — 20 Comments
    12
    Oct 10

    Java Update Clobbers 29 Security Flaws

    Oracle today released a critical update to its widely-installed Java software, fixing at least 29 security vulnerabilities in the program.

    Most consumers on Microsoft Windows PCs will have some version of Java installed (if you’re not sure whether you have Java or what version might be installed, click this link). Existing users can grab the latest version — Java 6 Update 22 — by visiting the Windows Control Panel, clicking on the Java icon, and then selecting the “Update Now” button on the “Update” tab. If you don’t already have this software, I recommend that you keep it that way.

    Per Oracle’s advisory, updates are available for Windows, Solaris and Linux versions of Java. Apple maintains its own version of Java for OS X systems, and typically issues fixes for its version several months after the official Java release.

    Be aware that Java’s updater may by default also include free “extras” that you may not want, such as the Yahoo! Toolbar or whatever other moneymaker they decide to bundle with their software this time around, so be sure to de-select that check box during installation if you don’t want the add-ons.

    Time to Patch — 9 Comments
    25
    Aug 10

    Adobe, Apple Issue Security Updates

    Both Adobe and Apple have released security updates or alerts in the past 24 hours. Adobe pushed out a critical patch that fixes at least 20 vulnerabilities in its Shockwave Player, while Apple issued updates to correct 13 flaws in Mac OS X systems.

    The Adobe patch applies to Shockwave Player 11.5.7.609 and earlier on Windows and Mac operating systems. Adobe recommends that users upgrade to Shockwave Player 11.5.8.612, available at this link. But before you do that, you might want to visit this link, which will tell you whether or not you need to update, and indeed whether you currently have Shockwave installed at all. If you visit it and don’t see an animation, then you don’t have Shockwave (and probably aren’t missing it either).

    One other note about Shockwave: Firefox users may notice a “Shockwave Flash” entry when they click “Tools,” “Add-0ns,” and then the “Plugins” tab. For reasons that are too complicated to explain in one breath, this is actually Adobe’s name for its regular Flash player, which most people probably do want installed because can be difficult to browse and use the Internet without it.  By the way, if you haven’t updated your Flash Player in a while, Adobe issued a new version of that software on Aug 10 that plugged a half dozen security holes.

    Apple’s update affects Mac OS X Server 10.5, Mac OS X 10.5.8 , Mac OS X Server 10.6 , Mac OS X 10.6.4 and is available via Software Update or from Apple Downloads.

    Latest Warnings / Time to Patch — 28 Comments
    8
    Jun 10

    Microsoft, Apple Ship Big Security Updates

    In its largest patch push so far this year, Microsoft today released 10 security updates to fix at least 34 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating system and software designed to run on top of it. Separately, Apple has shipped another version of Safari for both Mac and Windows PCs that plugs some four dozen security holes in the Web browser.

    Microsoft assigned three of the updates covering seven vulnerabilities a “critical” rating, meaning they can be exploited to help attackers break into vulnerable systems with no help from users. At least 14 of the flaws fixed in this month’s patch batch are in Microsoft Excel, and another eight relate to Windows and Internet Explorer.

    According to Microsoft, the most serious of the bugs involves a weakness in the way Windows handles certain media formats, and is present in all supported versions of Windows. Another critical update nixes six different insecure ActiveX controls (plug-ins for Internet Explorer), while the third critical update corrects at least a half dozen vulnerabilities in IE.

    Microsoft notes that Office XP users may not be able to install one of the needed updates; Rather, Redmond is releasing what it calls a “shim,” or essentially and point-and-click “FixIt” tool that apparently does the job. If you use Office XP, go ahead and click the “FixIt” icon at this link when you’re done installing the rest of the updates.

    The Microsoft patches are available through Windows Update or via Automatic Update. As usual, please drop a note in the comments below if you experience any problems as a result of installing these updates.

    Apple’s Safari 5.0 update fixes at least four-dozen security vulnerabilities in Safari on Mac OS X and Windows versions. Updates are available for Mac OS X v 10.4.11, Mac OS X v10.5.8, Mac OS X v10.6.2 or later, Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Mac users can grab the update from Software Update or Apple Downloads; Safari users on Windows will need to update using the bundled Apple Software Update utility.

    The Wire — 2 Comments
    12
    Jan 10

    The Wire

    A periodic pointer to some of the more interesting and newsworthy security news stories. In no particular order:

    Proof-of-concept for Mac OS X systems Released
    Possible Malicious Apps for Google’s Android Phone
    Online Gaming Exec. Sentenced to 33 Months
    ‘Massive Cybercrime Conspiracy’

    Read after the jump for summaries and links to more information.

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