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QuickTime RTSP Vulnerability Proof-of-concept Surfaces

by , 4:50 PM EST, November 29th, 2007

A few days after a flaw was discovered in the QuickTime handling of the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), researchers have been able to craft a proof-of-concept exploit, according to Computerworld on Thursday.

"This particular exploit can cause remote code execution through the QuickTime RTSP protocol vulnerability on Microsoft Windows and Apple systems," Symantec said. "This is the first working exploit for Apple systems that we have observed."

The appearance of a proof-of-concept exploit at the site milw0rm.com has be characterized as a "tripwire" by Symantec. "Once we see something in Metasploit, we know it's likely we'll see it used in attacks," Alfred Huger, vice president of engineering with Symantec's security response group said last summer.

The proof-of-concept works on Intel or PPC Macs running Tiger or Leopard with QuickTime 7.2 or 7.3 (It also affects Windows XP SP2.) Symantec explained how it might work along with some preventive measures.

Apple has not yet published a fix.

Observer Comments

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View Name:Guest
Subject: baloney
Close Name:j.martellaro -   TMO Staff Posts: 76 Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Subject: Mac vulnerability

From the original CW article, linked in the first paragraph...

"But even though analysts confirmed on Monday that Mac OS X versions of QuickTime 7.2 and later are also vulnerable, it took several more days for other researchers to craft a reliable exploit."

...

"According to the proof-of-concept, the Metasploit module works on Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs running either Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard). It also executes on PCs running Windows XP SP2."

View Name:Guest
Subject:
Close Name:daemon Posts: 305 Joined: 17 May 2007
Subject:

Another Apple security hole. Where exactly does the "designed for security from the ground up" come into play with Apple's software?

Close Name:JulesLt Posts: 136 Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Subject: Dig Your Own Hole

Quote
daemon wrote:
Another Apple security hole. Where exactly does the "designed for security from the ground up" come into play with Apple's software?


The same way that a car designed for safety can still have faults?? The Unix basis of OS X is fundamentally a better model than classic Mac OS, or Windows. Mac OS system 9 closed the gap considerably, as did XP SP2 and Vista on Windows, but neither of those systems had been designed as a secure networked system in the first place.

Which isn't to defend them in this case - Quicktime seems to be the single most insecure piece of software Apple have produced.

Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 2833 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject:

daemon is trolling again.

Close Name:Sir Harry Flashman Posts: 577 Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Subject: It doesn't work in Safari?

Am I reading the article at Symantic correctly that this exploit requires Explorer or FireFox? I didn't see where it affects Safari.

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