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Apple Mac OS X "disk://" URI handler stores arbitrary files in a known location

Vulnerability Note VU#210606

Original Release Date: 2004-05-21 | Last Revised: 2006-05-01

Overview

A vulnerability has been reported in the default "disk://" protocol handler installed on Apple Mac OS X systems. Remote attackers may potentially use this vulnerability to create files on the local system without explicit user consent. We have not independently verified the scope of this vulnerability report.

Description

A vulnerability has been reported in the Apple Mac OS X default "disk://" URI Handler. If able to entice a user to visit a foreign web site, a remote attacker may potentially be able to download any arbitrary file to a known location on the local system. If the file is a disk image (".dmg"), it could be automatcially mounted as a disk volume available for use by an attacker. A separate vulnerability, VU#578798, has also been reported which may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary application files contained within a mounted disk image.

Browser or applications supporting "disk://" URIs.

Impact

A remote attacker may be able to download arbitrary files to a known location on a potentially vulnerable system.

Solution

Security Update 2004-06-07 has been released for the following system versions:

    • Mac OS X v10.3.4 "Panther"
    • Mac OS X Server v10.3.4 "Panther"
    • Mac OS X v10.2.8 "Jaguar"
    • Mac OS X Server v10.2.8 "Jaguar"

This update removes the "disk://" URI handler.

According to the posting on Secunia, implementing all three of the following steps may mitigate this vulnerability:

1) Uncheck ("Open 'safe' files after downloading");
2) Change the protocol helpers (applications) for URI handlers which are not required, e.g., disable the "help://" handler;
3) Add a separate protocol helper (application) for "disk".

Vendor Information

210606
 

Apple Computer, Inc. Unknown

Updated:  May 21, 2004

Status

Unknown

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

US-CERT has no additional comments at this time.

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us email.


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References

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Kang for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Jason A Rafail of CERT/CC and is based on information from Secunia.com and SecurityTracker.com.

Other Information

CVE IDs: None
Severity Metric: 18.00
Date Public: 2004-05-17
Date First Published: 2004-05-21
Date Last Updated: 2006-05-01 19:31 UTC
Document Revision: 10

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