Security and Privacy » firefox

Fake Firefox update

derek — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:15:22 +0000

Lots of spam emails circulating with following content

New update arrive.

Your security is our top priority. Our open source security process means we have an international community of experts working around the clock to monitor the latest threats. As soon as a security threat is discovered, we write a patch and release an update to stay one step ahead. Downloading Firefox updates is a very important part of staying safe online. Firefox is constantly evolving as our community finds ways to make it better, and as we adjust to the latest security threats. Keeping your Firefox up-to-date is the best way to make sure that you are using the smartest, fastest and . most importantly . safest version of Firefox available. A Firefox update will not make any changes to your bookmarks, saved passwords or other settings. However, there is a possibility that some of your Add-ons won.t be immediately compatible with new updates. Re-installing Firefox will not affect your settings, bookmarks or preferences in any way. A Firefox software update is a quick download of small amounts of new code to your existing Firefox browser. These small patches can contain security fixes or other little changes to the browser to ensure that you are using the best version of Firefox available. Update in a click : firefox-7.0.1

needless to say the download is a trojan, identified by several antiviruses as carpberb and by others as Z-bot Please don’t fall for it Firefox 7 isn’t out yet, although it will be soon

Another new URGENT Adobe flash security update

derek — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:24:34 +0000

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb11-13.html
An important vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Flash Player 10.3.181.16 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris, and Adobe Flash Player 10.3.185.22 and earlier versions for Android. This universal cross-site scripting vulnerability (CVE-2011-2107) could be used to take actions on a user’s behalf on any website or webmail provider, if the user visits a malicious website. There are reports that this vulnerability is being exploited in the wild in active targeted attacks designed to trick the user into clicking on a malicious link delivered in an email message.
Adobe recommends users of Adobe Flash Player 10.3.181.16 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris update to Adobe Flash Player 10.3.181.22 (10.3.181.23 for ActiveX). Adobe expects to make available an update for Flash Player 10.3.185.22 for Android during the week of June 6, 2011.

Adobe is still investigating the impact to the Authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat for Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Adobe is not aware of any attacks targeting Adobe Reader or Acrobat in the wild.

Microsoft is aware of nine fraudulent digital certificates issued by Comodo

derek — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:50:02 +0000

The full advisory can be found on the Web at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2524375.mspx.

===========================
SUMMARY
===========================
Microsoft is aware of nine fraudulent digital certificates issued by Comodo, a certification authority present in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities Store on all supported versions of Microsoft Windows. Comodo advised Microsoft on March 16, 2011 that nine certificates had been signed on behalf of a third party without sufficiently validating its identity. These certificates may be used to spoof content, perform phishing attacks, or perform man-in-the-middle attacks against all Web browser users including users of Internet Explorer.

Certificates for the following Web properties are affected:

• login.live.com
• mail.google.com
•www.google.com
• login.yahoo.com (3 certificates)
• login.skype.com
• addons.mozilla.org
• “Global Trustee”

Comodo has revoked these certificates, and they are listed in Comodo’s current Certificate Revocation List (CRL). In addition, browsers which have enabled the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) will interactively validate these certificates and block them from being used.

An update is available for all supported versions of Windows to help address this issue. For more information about this update, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 2524375 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2524375).

Typically, no action is required of customers to install this update, because the majority of customers have automatic updating enabled and this update will be downloaded and installed automatically. For more information, including how to manually install this update, see the Suggested Actions section of this advisory.

===========================
RECOMMENDATIONS
===========================
Review Microsoft Security Advisory 2524375 for an overview of the issue, details on affected components, suggested actions, frequently asked questions (FAQ), and links to additional resources. MSRA Security Partners who are experiencing issues believed to be related to the issues described in this advisory should contact us via e-mail or by calling 888-HELPSEC with your custom Access ID.

===========================
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
===========================
• Microsoft Security Advisory 2524375 – Fraudulent Digital Certificates Could Allow Spoofing –http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2524375.mspx

• Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/msrc

More details on Comodo blog

The problem with the Prefetch function in Firefox and Chrome

derek — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:01:23 +0000

Did you know that Firefox and Chrome both have a feature that fetches pages and links that it thinks you might be going to click on? This can slow down your computer and browsing dramatically. The majority of problems come up when using a search engine, particularly Google with its “preview function”.
The pre-fetch function in these browsers silently loads every link in the background and caches ( stores) the pages in your internet temporary files folder used by Firefox or Chrome. So far Internet Explorer has resisted the temptation to do this.
It also has another major problem when using security software that blocks dangerous or known malicious IP numbers or web addresses. You either get constant alerts about malicious pages attempting to infiltrate your computer or pop up warnings saying xxxx address or IP number has been blocked. Some security softwares will block you from the original page that you are attempting to visit because of the preloaded link to a potentially malicious site, that can lead to major problems with search engines. In 99% of the time, you have absolutely no intention of ever visisting that site, it is just Firefox or Chrome being helpful and preloading the pages for you

Here’s how to disable the Firefox prefetch setting.

1. Type about:config in the address bar and press ENTER. Agree to the warning that changing settings can cause problems

2. Locate and double-click the entry for
network.prefetch-next

3. Set it to false to disable this feature. Double-clicking on the setting will change it.

How to disable prefetch in Firefox

This is how to disable the prefetch function in Chrome:
1. Click the wrench in the upper-right corner.

2. Select Options

3. Select the Under the hood tab.

4. Uncheck “Use DNS pre-fetching to improve page load performance” . and then close the options page

Disable prefetch in Chrome

Beware of fake shopping sites

derek — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:55:16 +0000

With the seasonal shopping season well underway, watch out for fake shopping sites and phishing emails trying to get your identity & credit card details.

A slightly different approach came into my inbox today which asked me to confirm the item in my shopping basket. Now I haven’t shopped with Littlewoods online but you can be sure that thousands of people have and the same scam will be applied to just about every well known online shopping site this season.

The email looks quite believable

The website if you follow the link looks exactly like the real Littlwoods shopping site Account sign in page EXCEPT that the real Littlewwoods or ALL reputable shopping sites will have a Padlock icon and the site address will start with HTTPS and the address bar will turn green to show that you are on a secure site

This screenshot shows the fake site and I have blanked out the address for safety reasons

These show how a genuine site will appear in Internet Explorer 8 on left and Firefox on right. Both show the padlock icon and a green safe address bar. A genuine shopping site will always start HTTPS to show a secure site when you are asked to put in any details. The front page of the site might be a normal http:
Unfortunately a lot of well known shopping sites haven’t yet signed up to the Extended Valuation green bar very secure system yet so watch for the closed padlock and HTTPS in the address bar to show a secure site. In Firefox browser the closed padlock is on the bottom right hand corner of the page, not in the browser address bar

I strongly recommend using ROBOFORM which keeps all passwords in a secure encrypted database that only you (not a keylogger or malware) can access and use it to create safe secure passwords

Sun Java Runtime Environment Multiple Vulnerabilities

derek — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:54:06 +0000

Sun Java Runtime Environment Multiple Vulnerabilities
Affected:
JDK and JRE 6 Update 16 and earlier
JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 21 and earlier
SDK and JRE 1.4.2_23 and earlier
SDK and JRE 1.3.1_26 and earlier

Description: Sun’s implementation of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Web Start contains multiple vulnerabilities. A specially crafted Java application, an audio or image file or an applet could trigger one of these vulnerabilities, with consequences ranging from arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user to denials-of-service and security restriction bypass. Note that, depending upon configuration, Java applets embedded in web pages may be opened automatically upon the loading of the page. One of the error is that the update mechanism does not update JRE to the new version when running on non-English Windows versions. There are errors in decoding DER encoded data and the parsing of HTTP headers which might lead to memory exhaustion. There is an authentication bypass vulnerability in JRE while verifying HMAC digests. Multiple buffer overflow and integer overflow vulnerabilities have been reported in JRE while processing specially crafted audio and image files. There is a command execution vulnerability in JRE which could be triggered by a specially crafted web page. There is a flaw in the implementation of security model permissions in the Java Web Start Installer. Some technical details for some of these vulnerabilities are publicly available.

Status: Vendor not confirmed, no updates available. [edit] Updates are available

References:
Zero Day Initiative Advisories
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-076
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-077
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-078
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-079
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-080
Sun Security Advisories
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-270476-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-270475-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-270474-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-269870-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-269869-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-269868-1
Product Home Page
http://java.sun.com
SecurityFocus BID
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36881

for this DO NOT rely on check for updates in JAVA control panel BUT go to http://java.com/en/download/ie_manual.jsp?locale=en&host=java.com:80

if you have a 64 bit version of windows, you need to install the standard 32 bit version AND the 64 bit version http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Mozilla fixes 16 flaws with Firefox 3.5.4:

derek — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:47:55 +0000

http://www.mozilla.org/security/known-vulnerabilities/firefox35.html#firefox3.5.4

Mozilla fixes 16 flaws with Firefox 3.5.4:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140008/Mozilla_fixes_16_flaws_with_Firefox_3.5.4

Mozilla today patched 16 vulnerabilities in Firefox, 11 of them critical, as it updated the open-source browser to version 3.5.4.

The 11 critical Firefox 3.5 vulnerabilities were located in a variety ofn components, including Web worker calls, the GIF color map parser, the string-to-number converter, a trio of third-party media libraries, and both the JavaScript and browser engines.