Apple confirms OS X security glitch

Apple has confirmed a security glitch that, in many situations, will let someone with physical access to a Macintosh computer gain access to the password of the active user account.

The vulnerability arises out of a programming error that stores the account password in the computer’s memory long after it’s needed, meaning it can be retrieved and used to log into the computer and impersonate the user.

“This is a real problem and it needs to be fixed,” said Jacob Appelbaum, a San Francisco-area programmer who discovered the vulnerability and reported it to Apple. He said he disagreed with the company’s response: “They won’t put it in the latest security update or release a security update just for this issue.”

Appelbaum is one of the team of researchers who published a “cold boot” paper last week describing unrelated vulnerabilities in encrypted filesystems, including Apple’s FileVault, Windows Vista’s BitLocker, and a number of open-source ones.

Unlike the security concerns reported last week, this vulnerability is specific to OS X. It’s also more sweeping because it offers–at least in OS X’s default configuration–full access to passwords stored in the Keychain, which can include passwords to wireless networks, Web sites, accounts accessed via SSH, network-mounted volumes, and so on. (link)

Hackers exploit unpatched Quicktime vulnerability

Attackers are trying to exploit an unpatched vulnerability in Apple’s QuickTime software that could let them run code on a victim’s computer, Symantec warned in a DeepSight Threat Management System alert issued Sunday.

First observed on Saturday, the attacks appear to be aimed at Windows users, but Mac OS users could also be at risk since the QuickTime vulnerability in question affects both operating systems, the alert said. That vulnerability, called the Apple QuickTime RTSP Response Header Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability, was first disclosed on Nov. 23 and remains unpatched by Apple.

Researchers have shown that the QuickTime vulnerability affects a range of operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Vista, MacOS X 10.4, and the recently released MacOS X 10.5, also called Leopard. The vulnerability can be exploited through Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.

There are two types of attacks underway, Symantec said. In the first, victims’ computers are being redirected from an adult Web site, Ourvoyeur.net, to another Web site that infects the computer with an application called loader.exe, which can be saved to the computer as metasploit.exe, asasa.exe, or syst.exe. Once installed on a computer this application downloads another binary file, which Symantec identified as Hacktool.Rootkit, a set of tools that can be used to break into a system. (story)