Software Engineering Institute

AOL Radio includes several ActiveX controls to stream audio in web pages. The AOL AmpX and CoAxTrack ActiveX controls, which are provided by AmpX.dll and axtrack.dll respectively, use a program called AOLMediaPlaybackControl.exe. The AOLMediaPlaybackControl application contains a stack buffer overflow that is exploitable via the AppendFileToPlayList() method in the AmpX and CoAxTrack ActiveX controls.

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user.

Apply an update

This vulnerability is addressed in automatic updates provided by AOL, which remove the AmpX control and AOLMediaPlaybackControl.exe. AOL update 4194.13.4 contains the fix for U.S. versions of AOL, and 4195.9.4 contains the fix for international versions. This update is also available as a manual install as the Unagi update. The AmpX ActiveX control version 2.6.2.6 also appears to prevent the buffer overflow vulnerability in AOLMediaPlaybackControl.exe from being reached. If you are unable to apply an update, please consider the following workarounds.

Disable the AmpX and CoAxTrack ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer

The ActiveX controls associated with AOLMediaPlaybackControl.exe can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSIDs:

{B49C4597-8721-4789-9250-315DFBD9F525}
{B9F3009B-976B-41C4-A992-229DCCF3367C}
{FA3662C3-B8E8-11D6-A667-0010B556D978}
{FE0BD779-44EE-4A4B-AA2E-743C63F2E5E6}
More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for these controls:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{B49C4597-8721-4789-9250-315DFBD9F525}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{B9F3009B-976B-41C4-A992-229DCCF3367C}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FA3662C3-B8E8-11D6-A667-0010B556D978}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FE0BD779-44EE-4A4B-AA2E-743C63F2E5E6}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
Disable ActiveX

Disabling ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this and other ActiveX vulnerabilities. Instructions for disabling ActiveX in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.