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Yahoo! Messenger allows arbitrary users to be added to buddy list without proper authorization

Vulnerability Note VU#393195

Original Release Date: 2002-06-05 | Last Revised: 2002-06-10

Overview

Yahoo! Messenger is an instant messaging client. There is a vulnerability in Yahoo! Messenger that permits a remote user to add arbitrary users to the victim's buddy list.

Description

Yahoo! Messenger allows users to view content only from users on their buddy list. An attacker could craft a message to exploit this vulnerability and add arbitrary users to the victim's buddy list. This message would have to be sent through Yahoo! servers, and could not be exploited peer-to-peer.

Impact

A remote user may be able to add users to the victim's buddy list. This can create a vector of attack for other vulnerabilities that require the victim to accept content from the attacker.

Solution

This vulnerability was fixed by a sever-side resolution in February 2002. No user action is required.

Vendor Information

393195
 

CVSS Metrics

Group Score Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

Acknowledgements

This vulnerablity was discovered by Scott Woodward .

This document was written by Jason Rafail.

Other Information

CVE IDs: None
CERT Advisory: CA-2002-16
Severity Metric: 15.19
Date Public: 2002-02-21
Date First Published: 2002-06-05
Date Last Updated: 2002-06-10 15:49 UTC
Document Revision: 16

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