May 24th, 2007
Apple patch batch fixes 17 Mac OS X vulnerabilities
Apple has shipped a Mac OS X update with patches for a total of 17 potentially serious security vulnerabilities.
The latest mega update is the fifth from Apple this year and brings the patch total for 2007 up to 109.
With Security Update 2007-005, Apple is fixing a host of denial-of-service and arbitrary code execution issues affecting several built-in Mac OS X components.
One of the more serious vulnerabilities, in CoreGraphics, could allow an attacker to use a rigged PDF file to launch code execution attacks. This is caused by an integer overflow vulnerability in the way PDF files are handled.
“By enticing a user to open a maliciously crafted PDF file, an attacker could trigger the overflow which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution,” Apple warned in an advisory.
Another potentially serious buffer overflow was also identified in UPnP IGD (Internet Gateway Device Standardized Device Control Protocol) code used to create Port Mappings on home NAT gateways in iChat.
“By sending a maliciously crafted packet, an attacker on the local network can trigger the overflow which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution,” Apple said.
Four different denial-of-service issues in BIND are also addressed along with holes in Alias Manager, fetchmail, file (code execution possible), mDNSResponder, PPP, ruby, screen, texinfo and VPN.
[UPDATE: May 25, 2007 @ 11:21 am] Immunity has released exploit code for the mDNSResponder (Bonjour) vulnerability, which brings code execution risks.
Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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